Charlie St. Cloud

By now most people in America have heard of the teen-heartthrob, Zac Efron. Since 2006, where he sang his way into fame with the immensely popular High School Musical series, Efron has been making his transition from the television screen to the silver screen and now in 2010 it is clear he is trying to be taken seriously as an actor from last years drama, "Me and Orson Wells" and the new, "Charlie St. Cloud."

If you have seen the trailers for this film you will already be expecting that it has the potential to be utterly depressing and this plot description isn't going to change your mind. The film starts with Charlie and Sam on the final stretch of a sail boat race in which the two win resulting in Charlie earning a scholarship to Stanford University. At the start of summer, Charlie makes a promise to his little brother saying that he will practice baseball with him everyday at sunset until he leaves for college. That night, Charlie and Sam are driving down the road when a drunk driver hits them into the intersection where a semi-truck collides with the car killing Sam. But for Charlie, Sam isn't dead, in fact when Charlie travels to the spot they practiced baseball, Sam is standing right in front of him. Sam reminds Charlie of the promise he made and they begin to practice everyday.

Five sad years later, Charlie has given up his scholarship and has been working at the graveyard near he and his brother's practice spot. Since he believes his brother is still alive, he occasionally talks to other dead friends as well. Every single day for the past five years Charlie has played baseball with Sam and can never seem to accept the truth that his brother is gone. Until he comes across a girl from his high school. Tess (Amanda Crew) also sailed in the race Charlie won and has continued to sail for the past five years. When Charlie sees Tess again he starts to feel like he might actually want to pursue her. But then a choice is given to Charlie...be bound to his dead brother, or be with Tess and finally learn to let go.

"Charlie St. Cloud" has two major flaws; it lacks depth and emotion. That's probably the flaw that the film doesn't want to have being that it is an EMOTIONAL drama. "Charlie St. Cloud" is one of those films designed to make you cry, I had no such feeling. The film did not do an impressive job of making me feel bad and sympathetic for Charlie. This is most likely because the film makers don't take the time to dive into Charlie's character to explain his emotions towards his problems (something of which I'm sure the book does a better job). Because of this, instead of feeling for Charlie, I found myself saying, "Wow, just get on with your life and let go." I went into "Charlie St. Cloud" hoping for an interesting story with intense character development and heart but I was let down.

The second flaw as a mentioned before is the lack of depth. The film fails to answer important questions like, why does Charlie choose to stay, why does he not want to move on, etc. Instead the film focuses more on the plot and moving the story along than on the meat and heart of the storyline.

Now everything about "Charlie St. Cloud" isn't bad. The premise itself is an interesting one along with some shocking plot twists. Thankfully Efron is a good actor because if this wasn't the case, the film would be a complete letdown. Efron has shown us in his past three films (including this one) that he is a talented actor that can pull off several different role types (musical, comedic, and dramatic). He is the biggest factor that keeps "Charlie St. Cloud" alive.

Efron is definitely trying to show the world that he can do more than just musicals (since his first four films were just that) but now its just a factor of choosing the right films in which to act. "Charlie St. Cloud" is not one of those films and though Efron gives it his all, the lack of depth and emotion in the script held him back from what could have been a terrific and even Oscar worthy performance. I give it one and a half stars out of four.

"Charlie St. Cloud" has a running time of 100 minutes and is rated PG-13 for language including some sexual references, an intense accident scene and some sensuality.