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What a world it'd be if a heartthrob staring into the distance were the same as a serious actor actually expressing emotion.
But even Zac Efron, with those boyish blue eyes, can't pull it off. As the title character in "Charlie St. Cloud," Mr. Efron stares out at the ocean and into the forest because, we learn, he's sad about his younger brother's death.
And that is, precisely, the problem.
- Starring: Zac Efron, Charlie Tahan, Amanda Crew.
- Rating: PG-13 for language including some sexual references, an intense accident scene and some sensuality.
Emotions in "Charlie St. Cloud" are one-word feelings that fail to evolve or grow throughout the film. People get sad, people get happy, people fall in love, and that's that. The film tries exploring the complexity of life and death while never illustrating the nuances of grief. And with an almost complete lack of agency, Charlie becomes the perennial flimsy protagonist who is unworthy of the audience's support.
"Charlie St. Cloud" doesn't entirely fail. Mr. Efron exudes a charisma that first made him a heartthrob in "High School Musical." The film is likely enough for Mr. Efron's steady fan base and, even, others who may be enamored by a story about love and death -- but at best the film is sappy, not moving.
Charlie starts out as a golden boy: a sailor with perfect agility and grace, a popular kid with a scholarship to Stanford, a conscientious son to his single mother (Kim Basinger). Most importantly, Charlie is the ideal role model for his younger brother, Sam (Charlie Tahan), who admires Charlie irrepressibly and has a sort of aw-shucks zeal when they do things such as sail and toss the baseball together, which is something Charlie vows to do with Sam every day for an hour.
All of this good fortune ends, however, with a tragic car accident. Sam dies while Charlie miraculously survives, and, naturally as an older brother, he's upset (note, again, the single-layered emotion). Yet Charlie can still fantastically see Sam -- it's never clear whether this is a ghost or spirit or pure imagination -- so, keeping with the promise, they can still play baseball.
And Charlie, so committed to this promise, gives up Stanford and sailing -- points that are annoyingly brought up in virtually every scene.
Inherently, the premise isn't flawed; it worked at least once before in the 2004 book the film was based on, "The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud," which received some positive reviews.
But it never really rings true here, largely because everything seems so flat. It's as though Charlie has two separate lives, where no pain exists before the accident and despair is ever-present afterward. Grief sometimes works this way, but the film is twinged with a vague malaise. The audience knows how Charlie feels and how he'll act, leading everything to feel expected and, yes, boring.
The relationship between the brothers has some sweet moments but it dries out quickly, especially after realizing that the whole playing-baseball-with-dead-people gig is creepier than it is cute.
The film has glimmers of potential. It inches toward a better emotional core with Tess (Amanda Crew), a fellow high school graduate of Charlie's and an accomplished sailor determined to be the youngest person to sail around the world (a slice of unwitting social commentary, given recent events).
Days before Tess leaves, she and Charlie quickly fall in love -- but, alas, it's far too quickly. Why they'd be interested in each other is a question that's never answered, besides the fact that both are grieving over a lost loved one. But even that feels forced.
And their connection never stops feeling forced, especially when Charlie woodenly notes to Tess that the closer he gets to her, the farther he moves away from Sam.
There's a bit of a twist when it comes to Tess' peril on the waters, but when Charlie suddenly seeks to help her, his motivations -- what little he has -- become even foggier. Why does he care about her?
But there lies the bigger, more precise question the audience finds itself asking: Why care at all?
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