Review of Charlie St. Cloud (2010) by Jeffrey G — 13 Aug 2012
Ooops. Forgot to review this one last week. Is that because maybe I didn't want anyone to know that I saw it? That's for you to decide...
Regardless, here is a harmless piece of Hallmark schlock, that would no doubt have ended up as a Lifetime movie had Zac Efron not agreed to star in it. It's WAY too heavy-handed in it's God-has-a-plan-for-us-all sensibilities (did anyone else notice the ridiculous cross of reflected sunshine when Charlie promises to meet his dead brother for catch every day?) for my liking, and using Ray Liotta to spout off faith-based platitudes is strangely ironic given his career. Still, the film means well and teenage girls will no doubt cry on cue, just as the movie wants them to. The film's biggest problems are two-fold. First, it breaks its own rules 3/4 of the way through--I thought Charlie saw DEAD people. Wait! We'll change that to serve the plot, no one will notice! I won't say anything else about that.
The second problem is Zac Efron. He may be one of the prettiest young stars out there--I dare not say handsome because he isn't manly enough to rate handsome--but he doesn't know how to do tortured. Efron's version of a dark night of the soul is to stare a lot. At nothing.
As I said, it means well, and it's harmless.
This review of Charlie St. Cloud (2010) was written by Jeffrey G on 13 Aug 2012.
Charlie St. Cloud has generally received mixed reviews.
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