34) CHARLIE ST. CLOUD

Director: Burr Steers
Stars: Zac Efron, Charlie Tahan, Amanda Crew, Augustus Prew, Kim Basinger, Donal Logue, Ray Liotta, Dave Franco
Year: 2010
Rating: PG-13

There's a lot to like about Charlie St. Cloud, not the least of which is Zac Efron proving that he can, indeed, act. Almost ethereally beautiful, here Efron digs beneath his looks to flesh out a sympathetic and endearing character in Charlie, a gifted sailor and excellent high school student on the east coast who has just won a full scholarship to Stanford - much to both the joy of his mother (Kim Basinger) and the trepidation of his younger brother Sam (Charlie Tahan), who is very close to his older brother and will be sorry to see him go. As his two best buddies prepare to enter the military, Charlie's future seems much more secure ... until an auto accident takes Sam's life, and nearly kills Charlie in the process (he's brought back to life, in the ambulance, by a stubborn EMT played by Ray Liotta).

The film flashes forward to five years later ... and the still-grief-stricken Charlie, who now works as a caretaker at the very cemetery his brother is buried in, where he also lives. Charlie never took the scholarship, gave up sailing, and lives now only for doing his job ... and the game of catch he still plays with his brother Sam (whom only he can see) every day at sunset, a date they set to make, every day without fail, just before Sam passed.

Charlie's life has become nothing like the plan, and in fact his mom has even moved away from her own grief at not only losing Sam ... but, in a way, losing Charlie too. It's only, in fact, when an experienced female sailor named Tess, whom Charlie starts to fall for (and who always had a crush on Charlie - the old Charlie, who loved life), comes along that Charlie feels the urge to live beyond the cemetery again ... and maybe start the process of healing, at last.

Charlie St. Cloud plays out a bit like a TV-movie, script-wise, with what may appear to be nothing more than a story of sadness and grief. In truth, the film is much more - ultimately uplifting, and also way above the norm thanks to a great cast headed by Efron. Yes, his beauty almost rivals that of the incredible cinematography/scenery in the film itself. But it's by far Efron who gives pure heart and soul to Charlie, turning in a subtle, thought-out yet very humane and believable performance as a young man who chooses to live within his grief instead of the real world. It's a touching, charming nuanced performance, the film well worth seeing for Efron alone ... though he is certainly backed up by a good supporting cast, as well, that makes the most of a script that's not particularly strong.

Efron chose well here, taking his first steps away from teen idol to mature adult actor with sure footing. Nice to know he has genuine talent behind the looks, it should be a real pleasure to watch him grow more into himself as an actor on-screen; he really is pretty terrific. ***1/2 - Reel Cool-Reel Awesome