Charlie St. Cloud

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Charlie St Cloud is the type of movie many people will love to hate. The plot is simply contrived and the script is somewhat identical to Shyamalan's film "The Sixth Sense" yet I was very much moved by the story of Charlie St. Cloud and by Zac Efron in the title role. It looks like Zac is going out of his way to shred that teenage 'High School Musical' image that he is now known for. When we first meet Efron in the title role he looks to be a young man with a bright future. A scholarship to Stanford awaits as he graduates high school from his New England coastal town where he enjoys sailing with his younger brother Charlie Tahan. The two share some heart warming chemistry as brothers, those who have younger siblings will understand the brotherly love between the two. However, a cruel trick of fate puts the two of them in the path of an oncoming drunk driver. Both die, but a determined, spiritual paramedic played by Ray Liotta manages to bring Efron back. As per an agreement they made minutes before the crash, Zac and Charlie still meet in the woods every day to play catch and work on Charlie's baseball skills. It's all Efron lives for. By some trick of fate he can communicate and see his deceased brother. Efron's forgotten Stanford and he now works at the local graveyard, to be close Charlie so that He can fulfil the promise he made. I won't go into it too much except that the climax is something that we have seen before yet it is still touching and shows that we must learn that the true value of life is to live and let live. I came out of the cinema feeling good and that is what the film is all about- loving life. My only criticism is that Liotta and Kim Basinger(as the mother) don't have enough screen time, although i must say that Liotta still manages to impress even with this small supporting role. Zac Efron and Charlie Tahan deliver strong performances as the two brothers and Amanda Crew is pretty decent. The film is beautifully shot and the scenery is quite breathtaking at times. We've seen quite a few romantic dramas this year(Dear John, The Last Song)- but this has to be one of the most touching(not the most original i must say) but still, it'll make you feel good inside. So my advice is go watch the movie or rent it when it comes out on DVD and don't believe those critics who's job it is to tell us how bad the movie must be just because it didn't earn $100 million at the box office.

I have to admit, that I never gave much thought of the phenomenon that was surrounding Zac Efron. The ladies seemed to love him and no one could have blamed him, if he just kept making the simple romantic movies, that would please his fan base. He seems to have other things on his mind though. He is trying to act. And I have to admit, that I was surprised at how engaging and how truthful he seemed in this one. I do think he is better than the High School Musical tag he has stamped on him (which would mean, he is a bad actor, which frankly I don't think could be said of him). His character does get a lot of attention from the female characters on display here, which seems natural. On the other hand, you do have the female lead in here, that does not seem to get any attention whatsoever, which makes you wonder if the male "population" in the movie is blind or into other things. Whatever it is, this is one of the things that do not feel right. The other being the mixture between the elements on display here. Let me just tell you, that this isn't neither your simple romantic movie, nor just pure drama. There is other aspects to it. I can see though that this might ruin the movie for quite a few people. Especially if they expected something more straight-forward.

After reading the book, I could hardly wait for this film to open and believe me it doesn't disappoint. Zac Efron does a great acting job as Charlie St. Cloud, a boy who has just received a sailing scholarship from Stamford. His future is all but sewn up until he and his brother Sam (played wonderfully by Charlie Tahan)get into a car accident. Sam and Charlie both die, but a caring paramedic by the name of Florio Ferrente (another great performance by Ray Liotta) performs a miracle and is able to bring Charlie back. Before he returns to the land of the living, Charlie promises Sam that he will always be there for him, no matter what. And so every day, Charlie comes back to play catch with Sam. Five years later he has chucked his scholarship and is now a caretaker at Waterside Cemetery, so that he can be close to his brother. Everything is going along well, until he spies a young woman by the name of Tess Carroll (another great acting job by Amanda Crew) who is getting ready to sail around the world. He meets her at the cemetery while she is cleaning out her father's grave and the two form a strong bond, although neither of them knows it yet. One day, Florio spots Charlie in the street and tells him that he was saved for a reason and was given a second chance at life and that Charlie is just throwing his life away. After a few days, he spots Tess again at her father's grave and their bond becomes deeper until the two fall passionately in love. Now Charlie must choose between the living and the dead and find his second chance at life. By the way, Charlie can see the dead because of the promise he made to his brother before he was brought back to life by Florio. When he breaks the bond with Sam, he loses the ability to see the dead. The movie did follow the book closely with slight differences, but all in all it is a film worth checking out just to marvel at the great acting job by all. And I am going to recommend reading the beautiful book The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood. You will need a hankie for both. for geniuskentyk...my advice is to read the book..it will explain away a lot of the things that are missing for you...

I really enjoyed this movie. It didn't disappoint me at all because I didn't expect much more than a beautiful love story, pretty scenery, very good acting, and thought-provoking ideas. I got exactly what I came for and maybe even a little more. The script is pretty dull, but the way the movie was filmed and acted made it absolutely amazing the way I saw it. Absolutely gorgeous scenery and cinematography, original ideas and scenes (I loved the graveyard scene when Tess and Charlie are chasing each other around with candle lights and pretty music, there was nothing at all about it that I'd seen before), very good acting, and a very beautiful story is what made this movie so great in my eyes. Despite how gorgeous Zac Efron is, it is clear he is capable of above-mediocre acting. He had nearly nothing to work with but made this movie captivating because of how carefully he played his words and showed his emotion. Nothing felt forced. The script is so dull but because of his ability to portray what was meant to be said, it made the movie ten times better. He is much more than good looks even though and I know his blue eyes are distracting, but he has a lot of talent. I think some people don't want to believe that someone can have both great looks and great talent because they get envious. He has made astounding career choices and has worked his way to the top, unlike Miley Cyrus, he has pure talent and heart at what he does, and hasn't gone all bare-skinned and photo scandal-ish to draw attention away from his lack of talent. He is grateful for his career and his talent is shining through. I believe he has a very promising career ahead of him despite all this silly hatred he is getting. He is a precious gem in my eyes; both gorgeous and very talented and able to show emotion in such a real way. The lead actress Amanda Crew did an okay job, she wasn't terrible, wasn't great. His graveyard friend provided comic relief and I thought he was funny. All in all, I give this movie 10/10 because I went in theaters to see it twice, I am thoroughly impressed with Zac and the career choices he has made, I loved how uniquely it was filmed and how original the story was, and I'm just a sappy hopeless romantic so I love films like this.

Like most Americans, I have found myself bewitched by Zac Efron; his stunningly blue eyes, his sullen good looks and his perfectly tousled hair make him a great leading man. But alas, not even his good looks could save this film. The premise is interesting enough, a senior in high school who has the world on a string suddenly finds himself plunging down a path of apathy and regret after the death of his 12 year old brother. This is quite hard to believe, however, due to the poor relationship Charlie (Efron) has with his little brother. In the scenes before young Sam dies, the two don't seem to share any fraternal bond. So, when we find out that 5 years after Sam's death Charlie is grounds keeper at the cemetery and plays catch with his dead brother every night, I thought it ridiculous. Efron plays Charlie the same way both before and after Sam dies: completely apathetic and nearly removed from the screen. There is a twist towards the end of the film that makes the plot even more difficult to grasp. It is very difficult to empathize with Charlie at this point. Ray Liotta has a tiny, tiny part which should have been developed much more fully. Kim Basinger is totally forgettable. Efron's love interest, Amanda Crew, is very hard to like. The film hardly explores her character and I found myself responding to her supposedly dramatic scenes very negatively. The young actor who plays Sam does an okay job. He tries to be the awe-struck younger brother but Efron doesn't give him enough to work with. Overall, I feel as though this movie was mishandled. In the hands of either a more sensitive director and/or cast, this could have been very touching coming of age film. Sadly, it's far from it. One redeeming quality is that the scenery is beautiful. The lush forest and ocean water surrounding the cemetery and town are magnificent. If you really want to see this movie, I'd say wait. Wait to rent or see it at the dollar theater or until you just totally forget about it.

*1/2 out of (****) Charlie St. Cloud, the film that bombed critically and financially, had to at least target a specific demographic, which typically consists of teeny boppers. Unfortunately, one of my guy friends had highly anticipated the film, so since nothing else that peeked my interest was playing, I decided to give the film a try. I literally had zero expectations. I didn't know whether to expect this great cinematic extravaganza or one of the most filthy, syrupy romances in cinematic history. Fortunately, Charlie St. Cloud isn't the latter, but alas, it's neither the former. My review is simply non-bias because I am not a Zac Efron hardcore worshiper yet I don't loathe the guy either. Basically, Charlie St. Cloud is a syrupy, melodramatic piece of filmmaking. The plot is rather bitter and cliché, the performances are pretty much standard, and the picture offers nothing new in terms of originality or entertainment. I'd go as far as saying that this was a pretty terrible film. If one must have their thirst quenched, a rental is the most sufficient. Charlie St. Cloud revolves around the namesake character who shares a strong bond with his brother Sam Cloud. Unfortunately, Charlie and his brother get into a severe car accident. Alas, Charlie's brother passes away in the unusual car incident and now Charlie has to cope with the death of a brother. Strangely, Charlie starts hallucinating his brother after the tragic situation. Albeit, is Sam really alive or just an image in Charlie's mind? Meanwhile, Charlie starts to go head over heals with this woman sailor. However, will Charlie's relationship deteriorate the wall Charlie built for his bondage with his brother? First off, the plot is simply contrived and paint-by-numbers. The script is somewhat identical to Shyamalan's film "The Sixth Sense" because of the picture's last thirty minutes. Moreover, the whole "girlfriend-interfering-with-friendship" situation has been done to death. Furthermore, the relationship portrayed in the film is as formulaic and disposable as the viewer has been witnessed to countless times before. Additionally, the acting is nothing to write home about. Zac Efron gives a decent performance and Amanda Crew gives a passable performance as well. To top it off, the pacing of this film is uninteresting. There were moments that seemed so tedious that switching theater chairs would have been a more preferable choice instead. Also, the film is painfully anti-climactic and melodramatic. I get that this film is suppose to be depressing, but the film milked its tear-jerking moments and even those, felt so predictable and dry, that it comes off as a gimmick rather than tragic. While the cons outweigh the pros, there are still some nifty things about the film. For starters, the cinematography is just eye-popping and simply gorgeous. Furthermore, the bondage between the two brothers is the only thing that caught my attention. To add to that, the film's opening twenty minutes or so were actually pretty intriguing and not too bad. Overall, it's highly improbable that Charlie St. Cloud will walk home with a Razzie, although it certainly won't walk home with my money again. The film could have been passable entertainment but it's another paint-by-numbers flick that rather than coming off sincere and touching, it sadly, comes off as gimmicky and a quick buck. I'm surprised this film was on the radar for green lighting. This type of film has Lifetime written all over it. Let me put it to you this way: Charlie St. Cloud is like that dopey Hallmark "get well" card which contents are so dry delivering that it's like beating a dead horse. Okay, maybe my criticism is a tad preposterous, but I just want to get the message across that this is another cliché Hollywood film. Here's a little game for all my fellow readers. If you had a nickel for every time I made my 3rd last sentence of the review, could you make your own movie?

After watching this I didn't come away thinking much of it. The acting was good and everything but for me the story line fell apart towards the end. There was some beautiful scenes that were well filmed so its without a doubt watch-able. I would also say it wasn't predictable which is good but sometimes I couldn't keep up and didn't understand a few conclusions to different parts of the story line. However Efron played the lead well and it was believable...I think I'll have to watch it again to get a good feel for it. But as it stands I feel it could have been allot better.

Ben Sherwood's Novel THE DEATH AND LIFE OF CHARLIE ST. CLOUD pretty much describes this Hallmarky love and spiritualism showcase for teen idol Zac Efron. Craig Pearce and Lewis Colick adapted the book for the screen and director Burr Sherwood (known for his other films that are of this genre) stirs the whipped cream. It is a pretty story with pretty people filmed in a pretty location (British Columbia) and the results are pretty predictable, yet when compared to the types of stories on film that flood the theaters at least this film has gentle heart and a lack of terror and horror and for that we should be pleased. Charlie St. Cloud (Zac Efron, who holds in own in this rather implausible role) is a highly regarded young sailor who is wins a sailing scholarship to Stanford upon graduation from high school. He is devoted to his younger brother Sam (Charlie Tahan) and his single mother nurse Claire (Kim Basinger - don't blink or you'll miss her very brief appearance in the film). One night while Claire is on extra shift at the hospital Charlie and Sam are in an auto accident: Sam dies, but Charlie is resuscitated by paramedic Florio Ferrente (Ray Liotta, in another very brief cameo). Charlie is devastated over Sam's death and gives up his chances for a life by taking a custodian job in the town cemetery so he can be near a certain spot where he 'sees' and communicates with Sam every sunset - a life long promise to never leave his little brother. Five years pass and Charlie's friend Alistair (Augustus Prew) - his only other friend Sully (Dave Franco, brother of actor James Franco) has gone into the military - tries to encourage Charlie to date, but Charlie's eyes fall on Tess (Amanda Crew), a fellow sailor from the past, and love begins. Tess decides to take a long solo voyage in her boat and disappears. Charlie meets the now cancer-ridden and dying Florio who gives him his St Jude medal and encourages Charlie to embrace life. Charlie strikes out on a mission to find the missing Tess and the rest is pretty obvious. Though the story is heavy on the saccharine edge and strains credibility, the team of actors is very fine - especially Zac Efron, whose presence is on the screen in practically every frame - so the film ends up being endearing. The cinematography by Enrique Chediak is gorgeous and the musical score by Rolfe Kent leans heavily on sad love songs. It is not a profound film though it does dip gently into the ideas of 'the beyond', but there is something about the honesty of it all that makes it s a satisfying evening of entertainment. Grady Harp