Charlie St. Cloud (Zac Efron) had a bright future, a future so bright that some would suggest he wear shades. Friends, family, and a full ride to an Ivy league school for doing what he loves, sailing. Then, as it usually does, it all came crashing down. You see, Charlie had a little brother named Sam (Charlie Tahan), one that he was very close to. Without a father around and with their mother working double shifts to put a roof over their heads all they had was each other. Charlie even promises that he’ll play catch with Sam every day until he leaves for college, no matter what. Then one night, while their mother was at work, Charlie decided to head out and drop Sam off at a friend’s house. They don’t quite make it before a drunk driver rear ends them and sends their car into oncoming traffic leaving both St. Cloud brothers dead on the street. Charlie is brought back to life by a paramedic, played by the great Ray Liotta, who see’s Charlie’s resurrection as an honest to God miracle…Sam, however, wasn’t so lucky. Fast forward five years. Charlie is so wrecked with grief that he never leaves home, skips college and works a job as caretaker of the cemetery where Sam is buried. There’s a twist though…Charlie still sees Sam. Once a day, at the time they planned, Charlie meets Sam in the woods for a game of catch at sundown where they just throw the ball and talk about the day. Charlie is, he thinks, content in this little world where he still sees his brother. Then in comes Tess (Amanda Crew), a championship sailor and former classmate of Charlie’s. Suddenly a choice presents itself to Charlie; Move on and live life, or stay stuck mindlessly walking through life attached to something that is no longer really there.
Wow…that was a long summary huh? Sorry I guess I got kinda carried away there. Anywho, let me start this thing out the only way possible and say that I’m officially a Zac Efron fan. I was strangely hesitant to admit that but it can no longer be avoided. The guy is going to be the next huge movie star, he’s got all the trappings of a Risky Business era Tom Cruise. He can act, has great comedic timing, can convincingly emote on screen, and let’s face it, the camera loves him. I kind of knew this ahead of time but his performance here cements it, what did surprise me was the performance of young Charlie Tahan as Sam. This kid is great, he kind of looks like a very young Cory Feldman but is really funny and has a great chemistry with Efron that completely carries their scenes together, and makes the idea of Charlie wanting to hold on all that much more convincing. The writing was damn good too, I’m not sure how much of it was directly taken from the book that it’s adapted from, but they somehow manage to take a story about loss and sadness and interject little bits that make it funny and enjoyable.
My main complaint is that the climax of the film comes from somewhere you really don’t expect. I know, usually not a bad thing, but the entire movie is building up how Charlie can’t let go of his brother. This leads you to invest a lot into seeing him overcome this, then the story kind of takes a left turn and things you thought would be given their due justice on screen are kind of just glossed over leaving a whole new story angle to steal the thunder. The other thing isn’t really a complaint, more of an observation, as I mentioned before, the writing keeps it from being a straight soggy eyed drama and leaves you a bit confused about what type of movie you’re watching. Everything you see tells you to be sad but still, for some reason, you’re not. Charlie’s only friend Alistair is a bit annoying as the textbook loud britishy accent guy. They basically just have him say random things about 10 decibels louder than what’s appropriate and let his accent do the rest.
Going into this I really expected a textbook tissue box movie, what I got was just different enough to be completely enjoyable. While there may be no Oscar gold in its future Charlie St. Cloud still proves to be an enjoyable heartfelt story that never lets itself get too sappy. I’m sure the ladies don’t need much convincing to go see this (as a side note to the aforementioned ladies, yes, Efron does remove his shirt for a scene), but the guys should know that this flick is completely painless, a good watch even. I’ll exit out with a challenge, go and see the movie then try and not be compelled to call your brother, sister, mother, or father. You may not call…but it will cross your mind.
3 out of 5 Guttenbergs
