CHARLIE ST. CLOUD
3 out of 5 stars

OMG such a sad/heartbreaking story about a HS boy who can’t let go of his guilt and memory of his dead little brother… of course, i’m miss sensitive when it comes to movies like this, thus i gave it an overall 3 out of 5, when in reality, it’s more of a 2… ;)



cutie pie zac efron plays the titular character, charlie st. cloud AKA mr. captain of the sailing team and mr. mcdreamy of his HS. he and his little bro sam compete in sailing competitions in quincy harbor all the time, winning gold medals and better yet, getting a sailing scholarship to STANFORD! so, graduation rolls around, and charlie can’t wait to start college. his relationship with his little bro is very adorable, since sam can be both annoying at times yet cute. he even decides he’s going to teach lil’ sammy how to play baseball the “right” way, so that sam can make the town’s team in the fall. (and sam is a DIE-HARD boston red sox fan too) so, when their mom puts charlie on “sam duty” AKA babysitting, charlie decides to sneak out to a post-graduation party. well, sam wants charlie to drive him to a friend’s house, and on the way there, they get into a major car accident… sam doesn’t make it, and that leaves charlie devastated… :’(


i think overall, this was just OK. like i said, it’s very sad and heartbreaking, but at the same time, it could have been done better by fleshing out charlie’s character a bit more by i.e. what happened to his mom?, how can one hook up with a ghost?, and what happened to him in the five years between the death of his bro and the present? the whole love story between him and tess is sweet, but they could have casted someone better for tess… also, i found it the story a bit choppy and a bit too much sixth-sense-y for me… (the whole “i can see dead people” storyline) best scene is when he’s interacting with his BFF tim who fought in iraq, and then you realize it’s his headstone thus…


p.s. oh! apparently zac passed up on footloose 2011 for this, which i think was a misjudgement on his agency’s call.. stick with the singing/dancing routine. it’s a little too early for dramatic roles, z… ;)