Charlie St. Cloud (2010)
Based on the best-selling book by Ben Sherwood, "Charlie St. Cloud" follows a young man and accomplished sailor, Charlie St. Cloud, who survives an accident that lets him see the world in a unique way. Charlie has the adoration of his mother Claire and little brother Sam, as well as a college scholarship that will lead him far from his sleepy Pacific Northwest hometown. But his bright future is cut short when a tragedy strikes and takes his dreams with it. Let's face it - the 'I-see-dead-people' premise is so overused, tired and uninteresting, that it just doesn't work anymore. This automatically makes "Charlie St. Cloud" a dull and uninspired movie, despite Zack Efron's solid performance and some nice scenery along the way. Probably film's biggest problem is, that it feels very indeterminate genre-wise, as it tries to be dramatic, romantic and funny at the same time, but fails to be anything at all. Besides, it adds a lot of supernatural elements to it just to get even messier. Apart from the weak and rather boring story, "Charlie St. Cloud" is has a good cast of young actors, that deliver passable performances and it also features great cameos from the gorgeous Kim Bassinger and the talented Ray Liotta. Zack Efron's is particularly impressive! He's not only eye-candy for the female audience, but he also gives a very convincing and emotional performance as the title character, showcasing a huge variety of human emotions and facial expressions. Newcomer Charlie Tahan is decent and likable as Charlie's little brother, Sam, and Amanda Crew as Charlie's love interest also delivers a good and very natural performance. "Charlie St. Cloud" lacks energy and dynamic, as it's a bit too slow-paced and clumsily-filmed, but on a positive note, it offers an alluring scenery and some stunning locations. Visually-captivating and well-acted, yet uneven, hardly compelling, and ultimately forgettable, "Charlie St. Cloud" is a beyond mediocre effort, that fails to deliver on almost every level.
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