I like Zac Efron, I really do. I believe he’s got some great acting potential but his role selection has to be better, it has to if he’s going to survive as a genuine actor in Hollywood and not get type-casted. Roles such as High School Musical, 17 Again, and Hairspray were his stepping stones, his foot in the door to the big time. Or so everyone thought. Don’t get me wrong, I think Efron has gotten better with each and every role he’s done, finally getting a movie such as Me and Orson Welles to show off his acting flair even if the movie itself wasn’t that good. Charlie St. Cloud was supposed to be Efron’s big burst into the Hollywood drama scene and show that Efron really has what it takes to make a lasting impact on movie goers. Hate to say it, but he fails in that aspect or maybe it’s the director that failed everyone here?
Charlie St. Cloud, directed by Burr Steers (Igby Goes Down, 17 Again) who is not a big time director and has only two films to his credit, both of which weren’t that great, elects to team up with Efron again (17 Again also stars Efron) trying to get it right this time. Efron plays Charlie St. Cloud who’s McDreamy, if McDreamy was 20-something and ripped. He’s the guy you want your daughter to date, you’d trust him with your life, and chances are he won’t let you down. Charlie and his younger brother, Sam (very aptly played by Charlie Tahan), are racing in the local sail boat regatta against the other local rich kids. When all looks lost for winning the race, Charlie and Sam pull one out of their butts and capture the glory and win the race. Just another notch on the old belt for Charlie is has top grades and a sailing scholarship to Standford in the fall.
Sam has an affection for Boston Red Sox baseball so Charlie agrees to play a bout of pitch and catch with his younger brother every day in the summer before he leaves for college. This is where the movie should go full steam ahead with the pulling of the heart strings and the teary eye tirades, but for some reason Burr Steers opts to make the movie less emotional from this point on. One fateful summer night, raining, Charlie and Sam are struck by a drunk driver on their way home. Charlie is saved by an EMT played by Ray Liotta (he just shows up in every movie, expecting a pay check eh?), and while Charlie fights for his life, his brother has already lost his. Charlie comes out of the hospital a few days later to fin out that his brother has died and the funeral is the next step.
St. Cloud turns a bit into a spiritual film from this point on as Steers opts to tell the story with Sam not exactly gone but he sure is dead. Think of him as Charlie’s guardian angel of sorts. The movie speeds ahead five years where Charlie’s mother (Kim Basinger) has left for Portland, Ore. and Charlie’s literal ticket to Standford sits dry-docked. In the biggest bit of cliche movie watching, we find out that Charlie now works as a caretaker at the cemetary where his brother, Sam, is buried. Just before the sun goes down each night Sam comes back to Charlie and they play catch with the baseball and talk about life. The movie then shifts to “love story” where Tess (Amanda Crews) comes into the picture. She’s a former high school classmate of Charlie’s, who is also an avid sailor and is now prepping for a solo trek around the world. Charlie and Tess quickly hit it off and you can see there is magic in the air. She quickly rekindles Charlie’s love of sailing and for a quick moment I thought the movie was going to turn out ok. Whoops.
The rest of the movie blazes by as if Burr Steers finally woke up in his director’s chair and told everyone to forget about acting well and having chemistry we just need to get through this. Big storms, parties, a little suspense all occupy the rest of the film but it’s the character’s relationships that really doom this movie. Here is the prime opportunity for Steers to say to Efron and Crews, “this movie hinges on you two, make it happen,” but he never does. Instead he opts to have Efron and Crews play touch-and-grab while trying to “save” each other. We never get to focus on Charlie and Sam’s relationship together after Sam is killed, we never get to focus on Charlie and Tess’ relationship after they meed and fall in love. The movie doesn’t seem to care about character development, caring more about trying to make you cry and then turning the movie into a bit of an action/thriller.
If you’re really looking for a movie that shows off Zac Efron’s acting skill while not being too hot and heavy with the emotional pull, I’d recommend Me and Orson Welles. St. Cloud is one of those movies that will get its audience due to the main actor but it’s nothing to write home about. While Steers played off of Efron’s acting charm in 17 Again, he fails to recreate that charm here in Charlie St. Could.