Charlie St. Cloud [Blu-ray]

This thought provoking movie is certainly worth seeing. It's not without its flaws but the positives outweigh the negatives. The acting by Zac Efron is really superb and he carries the movie. The first time I saw it I was a little confused with some of the details in the storyline, especially when he keeps talking to dead people, but the second time I saw it a lot of things made more sense. I think you have to be in the right mood to see it and also there are a lot of details that you notice more during the second viewing. I also felt at first that they were playing on Zac Efron's stunning good looks a little too much with their close up camera shots etc., not that I'm exactly complaining, ha ha, but at first I found that distracted from the touching storyline. The main themes of making the best of second chances, and that if God gave you a second chance to live what would you do with it, really do make you think. It's also about moving forward and leaving your past sorrows behind, as well as a subtle message of not taking your loved ones for granted. The love story is secondary in some ways as the characters struggle to deal with these issues in their lives.

Charlie is a father figure to his younger brother Sam as their father abandoned the family. They do everything together and even won a sailing competition as a team. Charlie promises his brother that he will teach him to play baseball and they agree to practice every day at sundown. Charlie is left with "Sam Duty" and has to babysit his eleven year old brother when their Mom has to work an extra shift. Charlie tries to sneak away when it's dark and when Sam catches him in the act, he winds up taking Sam with him. Sadly, they are then in a tragic car accident caused by a drunk driver and Charlie is devastated when Sam dies. The plan is that Charlie will put Sam's baseball glove in the casket at the funeral, but when it comes to it he isn't able to bring himself to do it. He runs away from the funeral and meets Sam's ghost in the woods. They continue meet to play catch every night and here comes the crunch when Charlie starts to fall in love. He is faced with the dilemma of choosing Sam's world or moving forward with his new girlfriend Tess also known as "sailor girl" who is planning a solo trip around the world. Charlie works in the graveyard in order to be close to Sam and feels he can't break his promise to his brother.

I didn't find this movie predictable, but it contained some inconsistencies or things that may be offensive to some. After the accident Charlie abstains from alcohol and one wonders if this is because of the accident, but later he seems to drink freely. I found the parts where he sees other ghosts to be a tad confusing at first viewing, but it all made sense later on. People who have died in the film seem to be in a sort of half-way state when they stay on earth until they are "ready" to go on to heaven. It seems in the story that they choose this time themselves, when they are ready to go. Some are ready to go quickly as Charlie's former classmate who went on to war and others are hesitant to go such as Sam because he wants to stay with Charlie. It's not clear where Sam is when he isn't with Charlie. Sam does not seem to be aware of people who died, but Charlie's friend tells Charlie he will say hi to Sam for him when he decides to go. Also, the location of the implied love-making scene will be viewed by some as inappropriate even though it is within "PG guidelines".

I like the strong Catholic Christian message in the film and although there is some minimal swearing and a few religious exclamations with God's name, the message that God has a purpose for people's lives comes through clearly. I also like how the paramedic who saved Charlie's life attributed Charlie's second chance to God's intervention. He wore a St. Jude charm around his neck and later we find out that St. Jude is the Saint for desperate or hopeless causes. Charlie learns through his experiences why God gave him a second chance and he is able to apply this same truth that was passed on to him, allowing a miracle to happen.

I'd recommend this film for Zac fans, but also people who want a story to think through things on a deeper level. The last time I went to see the film, on its last day showing here, I was the only person in the theatre which I hope isn't a bad sign as to the movie's popularity. If so, that would be too bad as it is a good movie even though it's not everyone's "cup of tea". It's pretty sad in parts, so do make sure you have kleenexes in your pocket so you don't have to use the theatre's serviettes! (Am I the only one who does that?...Winks) Also, Zac can cook for me anytime! :)

Great scenery of British Columbia, Canada. Makes me wonder about the graveyard and paradise that's in the story. Lovely actor and actress. Must watch!

These brief and admittedly superficial comments are just some impressions on having seen the still new movie, "Charlie St-Cloud", that stars Zac Efron. The film is a bit silly and weepily sentimental, but it provides Zac with many chances to pose beautifully his increasingly hunky body, "hunkily man" now rather than "hunkily teenage boy". I wish that Efron had shown more bare skin, which, of course, is what everybody really wants to see in this kind of commercial endeavour, but he was shirtless at times. (At some other times, his t-shirt would be soaking wet and clinging sexily to his "hard" body, very suggestively.) Actually, Efron's acting is quite good; any faults are of the script, not his, for his acting really is exceptionally fine, certainly better than that of most of the other principal and secondary characters.

Zac even has pre-marital sex in this film, quite a change for this Disney studio-famed star! That is going to shock some of his fans -- or, more likely, their parents and other cackling adults. The sex, though, is quite discrete. If it is there in the novel (which I have not read), then it would have to be in the film, too, to render the book cinematically with some fidelity. The impressive, tranquil beauty of the sylvan setting of the film, which rivals the romantic couple's humanly physical allure for attention, is almost reason enough to see this movie.

This is not my favourite Zac Efron film, so far. That honour goes to "17 Again", in which the "eye candy" charms of Efron are on more display, especially in those clinging, sweat-soaked gym outfits, in an entertaining and amusing film (one that has more focus and skill in script and in some other important other ways) in which Zac Efron acts utterly to perfection, much better, in fact, than too many critics are willing to admit. Often Zac Efron transcends "his material" (the films) in a most gratifying way, and he does that again in "Charlie St-Cloud".