Charlie St. Cloud (2010)

Director:

Burr Steers

Writers (WGA):

Craig Pearce (screenplay) and
Lewis Colick (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

30 July 2010 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Romance

Tagline:

Life is for living

Plot:

Charlie St. Cloud has been given the gift of seeing his deceased brother, but when a new love interest is in trouble he must choose between saving a life or continuing to see his brother everyday.

Plot Keywords:

Cemetery | Caretaker | Saving A Life | Grief | Brother Brother Relationship

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Zac Efron	...	Charlie St. Cloud
Charlie Tahan	...	Sam St. Cloud
Amanda Crew	...	Tess Carroll
Augustus Prew	...	Alistair Wooley
Donal Logue	...	Tink Weatherbee
Kim Basinger	...	Claire St. Cloud
Ray Liotta	...	Florio Ferrente
Dave Franco	...	Sully
Matt Ward	...	Connors
Miles Chalmers	...	Latham
Jesse Wheeler	...	Green
Desiree Zurowski	...	Carla Ferrente
Adrian Hough	...	Ben Carroll
Jill Teed	...	Grace Carroll
Valerie Tian	...	Girl in Toy Store
Grace Sherman	...	Girl in Toy Store
Brenna O'Brien	...	Girl in Toy Store
Tegan Moss	...	Cindy
Julia Maxwell	...	Rachel
Paul Chevreau	...	Hoddy Snow
Paul Duchart	...	Reverend Polk
Renu Bakshi	...	Reporter
Darren Dolynski	...	Ambulance Driver
Sophie Stukas	...	Mary Rogers
Marci T. House	...	Photographer
Ted Whittall	...	Principal
Natasha Denis	...	Julie
D. Neil Mark	...	EMT

Directed by
Burr Steers

Writing credits (WGA)
Craig Pearce		(screenplay) and
Lewis Colick		(screenplay)
Ben Sherwood		(novel "The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud")

Produced by
Michael Fottrell	....	executive producer
Michael Fottrell	....	producer
Ryan Kavanaugh	....	executive producer
Jared LeBoff	....	executive producer
Marc Platt	....	producer
Ben Sherwood	....	executive producer
Adam Siegel	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Rolfe Kent

Cinematography by
Enrique Chediak		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Padraic McKinley

Casting by
Heike Brandstatter
Allison Jones
Coreen Mayrs

Production Design by
Ida Random

Art Direction by
Kelvin Humenny
Geoff Wallace

Set Decoration by
Carol Lavallee

Costume Design by
Denise Wingate

Makeup Department
Gary Archer	....	dental prosthetics
Gitte Axen	....	makeup artist
Beth Boxall	....	key makeup artist: second unit
Connie Parker	....	makeup department head
Darrell Redleaf-Fielder	....	hair stylist: Kim Basinger

Production Management
Penny Gibbs	....	unit manager: second unit
Casey Grant	....	production manager
Lisa Rodgers	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Neil Allan	....	third assistant director
Gary Capo	....	second unit director
Richard Cowan	....	first assistant director (reshoots)
Mimi Crowe	....	trainee assistant director
Rachel Fortier	....	third assistant director
Jackie Lightbody	....	trainee assistant director
David Markowitz	....	first assistant director: second unit
David Markowitz	....	second unit director: West Coast unit
Tracey Poirier	....	second assistant director: marine unit
Shea Rowan	....	second assistant director
Lisa C. Satriano	....	first assistant director
Robert S. Weber	....	third assistant director: second unit
Richard Worden	....	second assistant director: second unit

Art Department
Aaron Alexander	....	props
Cal Barnett	....	lead greens person
Martin P. Blaine	....	scenic carpenter
Josephine Bleuer	....	head greensperson
Maureen Carey	....	construction buyer
Jean-Paul Costaz	....	paint coordinator
James Robert Crockett	....	art department assistant/illustrator
James Dickson	....	art department
Jordan Dobbie	....	assistant property master
Joel Echallier	....	props fabrication
Dean Eilertson	....	property master
Ryan Falkner	....	storyboard artist
Lisle Fehlauer	....	set dresser
Andrew Glavina	....	signwriter
Simone Gore	....	graphic designer
John Hamilton	....	paint foreman
Tyler Bishop Harron	....	assistant art director
Michelle Hendriksen	....	assistant property master
Scott Holburn	....	on-set dresser
Brad Jansen	....	sign painter
Aaron Jordan	....	lead sculptor
Janis Lee	....	scenic artist
Michelle Pitney	....	set dec buyer
Ann Rowley	....	set dresser
Daniel Scarcello	....	head sculptor
Brian Shell	....	construction coordinator
Gary Young	....	set sculptor
C. Daniel Barrett	....	sculptor (uncredited)
Jon Jarema	....	uncredited (uncredited)

Sound Department
Kristian Bailey	....	cable person
Bob Beemer	....	sound re-recording mixer
Bryan Bowen	....	sound editor
Jenna Dalla Riva	....	foley recording assistant
Scott Martin Gershin	....	supervising sound editor
Nerses Gezalyan	....	sound mixer
Brooke Graeff	....	foley assistant
Gary A. Hecker	....	foley artist
Daniel S. Irwin	....	dialogue editor
Jason W. Jennings	....	sound effects editor
Goro Koyama	....	foley artist
Martin Lacroix	....	boom operator
Andy Malcolm	....	foley artist
James Moriana	....	foley artist
Stephen P. Robinson	....	sound designer
Unsun Song	....	sound mix technician
Gordon Sproule	....	adr mixer
David Stanke	....	first assistant sound editor
Greg Steele	....	adr mixer
Becky Sullivan	....	supervising sound editor
Mike Szakmeister	....	dialogue editor
Jon Taylor	....	sound re-recording mixer
William Unrau	....	cable person
Brett Voss	....	foley mixer
Don White	....	foley recording mixer
Jeffrey Wilhoit	....	foley artist
Michael T. Williamson	....	sound mixer
Scott Wolf	....	sound effects editor
Greg Zimmerman	....	adr recordist
Lars Bjerre	....	dialogue denoising (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Kelly Coe	....	special effects assistant
Rory Cutler	....	special effects foreman
Graham S. Hollins	....	special effects coordinator
Steve Tressel	....	special effects fabricator

Visual Effects by
Heather Abels	....	digital matte painter: Rhythm & Hues
Keith Acheson	....	visual effects artist
Michael Angelo	....	visual effects artist
Alina Anon	....	matte artist
Mathieu Archambault	....	digital compositor
Saurabh Arora	....	rotoscope artist: Rhythm & Hues
Greg Astles	....	senior digital compositor: Mr. X Inc.
Manuj Basnotra	....	roto/prep artist
Barb Benoit	....	digital compositor
Dennis Berardi	....	visual effects supervisor: Mr. X Inc.
Valerie Berney	....	visual effects artist
Jason Bettinger	....	render i/o coordinator
Kristy Blackwell	....	matte painter
Ryan Bowden	....	junior effects technical director
Nathan Brunskill	....	Inferno assistant: Rhythm & Hues
Charles Bunnag	....	digital artist
Ayo Burgess	....	lighting artist: Mr. X Inc.
Kris Carson	....	digital compositor: Mr. X, Inc
Sibi Chakaravarthi	....	paint/roto artist
Chris Chappell	....	compositor
Vinit Kumar Chaturvedani	....	matchmove artist
Vinit Chaturvedany	....	track/matchmove artist
Jothan Chin	....	roto and paint artist
Jeremy Chinn	....	modeling lead: Rythm & Hues
Vikas Chirate	....	senior systems administrator
Patrick Clancey	....	digital opticals
Lisa Clarity	....	visual effects artist
Sam Clark	....	production coordinator
Daniel Aristoteles Collins	....	systems/operations: Rhythm & Hues
Krystal Cooper	....	render i/o coordinator
Robert Coquia Jr.	....	data management vfx
Michael Crane	....	digital compositor: Rhythm and Hues
Scott M. Davids	....	visual effects supervisor: Level 256
Danielle DiMarco Barto	....	visual effects coordinator: Rhythm & Hues Studios
Manasa Divya	....	matchmove artist
Nicolas Donel	....	lead matte painter
Frank Du	....	effects lead
Amélie Dubois	....	digital compositor
Maxime Ducharme	....	senior matchmover
Pauline Duvall	....	sequence supervisor: Rhythm & Hues
Chan Ee Jien	....	digital production coordinator
David Fix	....	senior systems administrator: Mr. X Inc.
Mikael Genachte-Lebail	....	digital matte painter: Rhythm & Hues
Bill Georgiou	....	sequence supervisor
Matt Glover	....	visual effects coordinator
Jay Grunfeld	....	compositor
Anthony Harris	....	color supervisor
Firdaus Hashim	....	roto and paint artist
Steven Hodgson	....	visual effects supervisor: Mr X
Phil Holland	....	digital imaging specialist
Neh Jaiswal	....	visual effects coordinator
Colleen Jenkinson	....	visual effects
Surendran Chinnakonda Jeyaraman	....	pipeline technical director (as Chinnakonda Jeyaraman Surendran)
David Jones	....	visual effects supervisor: Rampage VFX
Anna Joukova	....	digital compositor: Mr. X Inc
Brandon Kachel	....	matte painter: Rhythm & Hues
Michael Kambli	....	render i/o coordinator
Sean Kennedy	....	compositor: Rhythm & Hues
Louis Kreusel	....	render i/o coordinator: Rhythm & Hues
Charles Lai	....	on-set visual effects coordinator
Jay Lalime	....	digital compositor: Rhythm & Hues
David Lamps	....	render i/o coordinator: Rhythm & Hues Studios
Mark Larranaga	....	compositor
Mai-Ling Lee	....	digital artist
Jackson Li	....	digital artist
Rahul Madan	....	roto/prep artist: Rhythm & Hues
Richard Mahon	....	visual effects art director
Mark Mancewicz	....	technical animator
L. Patrick McCormack	....	senior manager: International Digital Productions
Erika A. McKee	....	visual effects producer
Daniel Mizuguchi	....	visual effects supervisor
Meg Morris	....	matchmove supervisor: Rhythm & Hues
Benjamin Mossman	....	production assistant: Mr. X Inc.
Bill Murphy	....	visual effects digital producer: Rhythm & Hues
Travis Nelson	....	digital compositor: Rhythm & Hues
Kelly Noordermeer	....	visual effects production assistant
Onesimus Nuernberger	....	matte painter: Rhythm & Hues
Rachelle Paquin	....	compositor: Rhythm & Hues (as Rachelle Bisson-Montpetit)
Sagar Patil	....	paint and rotoscope artist
Tan Paw Xuan	....	roto/prep artist
Sebastien Proulx	....	digital compositor
Murthy Putrevu	....	matchmove technical director
Vikas Rajput	....	digital artist
Matt Ralph	....	senior matchmover
Nachiarkovil Durairaj Rangesh	....	matchmove artist: rhythm & hues studios
Sanjay Rao	....	matchmove lead: Rhythm & Hues
Stephen Regnier	....	digital artist
Michael Richardson	....	visual effects production assistant: Rhythm & Hues Studios
Karl Rumpf	....	visual effects production manager: Rhythm & Hues
Jayaraman Sabarisan	....	matchmove artist: rhythm & hues studios
Mag Sarnowska	....	digital compositor
Geoff Sayer	....	digital compositor
Seshaprasad	....	head of digital production: Rhythm & Hues Studios Asia
Siddharth Shah	....	lead prep/roto artist: Rhythm and Hues
Todd Shifflett	....	visual effects supervisor
Mark Simone	....	visual effects producer: Rhythm & Hues
Brad Smith	....	render i/o administrator
Gavin Soares	....	tracking
Shelby Stong	....	visual effects artist
Yuki Sugimoto	....	matchmove technical director: Rhythm & Hues
David Sweeney	....	sequence supervisor: Rhythm & Hues Studios
Brian Tatosky	....	2D supervisor
Ben Taylor	....	render i/o coordinator
Will Telford	....	digital effects supervisor
Jateen Thakkar	....	lead prep artist
Nicholas Theisen	....	digital imaging resources
Peter Toufidis	....	senior matte painter
Sebastien Veilleux	....	digital compositor
Kabir Verma	....	matchmove technical director
Ned Wilson	....	compositor: Dyfed
Robert Young	....	digital compositor: Rhythm and Hues
Pia Odell-Foster	....	visual effects producer: Rampage VFX (uncredited)

Stunts
Tom Bahr	....	utility stunts
Guy Bews	....	stunt driver
Brent Connolly	....	stunt performer
Duane Dickinson	....	stunt driver
Austin Dunn	....	stunt double
Marny Eng	....	stunt coordinator
Jeff Hotte	....	safety diver
Trevor Jones	....	stunt double: Matt Ward
Hamish Miller	....	stunt double
Scott Nicholson	....	stunt performer
Eli Zagoudakis	....	stunt double: Zac Efron

Camera and Electrical Department
Chris Alexander	....	additional grip
Dan Ax	....	lighting technician
Troy Bassett	....	best boy rigging grip
Harold Bernard	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera
Dane Bjerno	....	camera technician: Wescam, second unit
Hans Bjerno	....	aerial director of photography: second unit
Stephen S. Campanelli	....	camera operator: "a" camera
Stephen S. Campanelli	....	steadicam operator
Chris Cove	....	libra head technician
Scott Cozens	....	second assistant camera: "b" camera, second unit (as Scott Cozen)
Pat Cronin	....	additional first assistant camera: second unit (as Patrick Cronin)
Herb Crowder	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera, second unit
Milo de Villiers	....	lighting technician: rigging
Ken Decker	....	generator operator
John Dekker	....	gaffer
Herb DeWaal	....	underwater key grip
Gil Forrester	....	dolly grip
Amie Gibbins	....	camera loader: second unit
Dan Gorval	....	best boy grip
Cynthia Greer	....	second assistant camera: "b" camera
Curt Griebel	....	key rigging grip
Paul Guenette	....	first assistant camera: "c" camera, second unit
Ian Guns	....	super technocrane operator
Chris Harris	....	camera operator: "a" camera, second unit
Douglas S. Holgate	....	aerial director of photography: second unit (as Doug Holgate)
Norbert Kaluza	....	camera operator: "b" camera, second unit
Ryan Ketchum	....	lighting technician
Jan Kiesser	....	director of photography: second unit
Charles Koetke	....	additional grip
Alex Kuchera	....	grip: second unit
David-Wesley Kyle	....	camera loader (as David W. Kyle)
Andrew Learmonth	....	video coordinator: second unit
Ian R.C. Levine	....	first assistant camera: "c" camera, second unit (as Ian Levine)
David Lourie	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera, second unit
Scott MacDonald	....	camera operator: "b" camera, second unit
Andrew Mackie	....	best boy rigging grip
Terry McEwen	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera (as Terry A. McEwen)
Athan Merrick	....	rigging lighting technician
Dan Morrison	....	second assistant camera: "b" camera, second unit
Kim Olsen	....	key grip
Michelle Ortt	....	second assistant camera: day player
Dylan Paul	....	balloon light technician
Brian Pearson	....	director of photography: second unit
Diyah Pera	....	stills photographer
Larry Portmann	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Dana Powers	....	lighting technician: reshoots (as Dana Wutzke)
Matt Reed	....	rigging electric
Clayton Richard-Long	....	camera loader (as Clayton Long)
Pete Romano	....	underwater director of photography
Jeff Sayle	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera, second unit
Ian Seabrook	....	underwater first assistant camera
Bryce Shaw	....	dolly grip: "b" camera
Troy James Sobotka	....	leadman grip
Rob Sperling	....	rigging grip
Jarrod Tiffin	....	rigging gaffer
Shai Vera	....	rigging grip
Scott Wallace	....	video playback operator
Stewart Whelan	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera, second unit
Andrew D. Wilson	....	camera operator: "b" camera (as Andy Wilson)
Rusty Deluce	....	first assistant camera: "c" camera (uncredited)

Casting Department
Andrea Brown	....	extras casting director
Sara Brown	....	extras casting assistant
Barbara Harris	....	adr voice casting
Ben Harris	....	casting associate
Peter Kousakis	....	casting assistant
Amy Nygaard	....	casting assistant
Laura Obenaus	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Marco Daxton	....	costumer
Patrick Gray	....	costume supervisor
Janice MacIsaac	....	costume supervisor
Sara Rakhshandeh	....	set costumer
Heather Rupert	....	costume dyer/breakdown
Ellie Schultz	....	costume breakdown/dyer
Shelly Shaw	....	set costumer
Kai Siperko	....	set costumer

Editorial Department
Ryan Acheson	....	assistant editor
Michael G. England	....	first assistant editor
Eileen Godoy	....	digital intermediate producer
Banner Gwin	....	assistant editor
Matt Hull	....	digital intermediate assistant producer
Jason Joseph	....	first assistant editor
Natasha Leonnet	....	senior colorist
Yvan Lucas	....	colorist: Efilm
Ken Smith	....	post-production assistant
Lee Wimer	....	color timer
Matthew Woolley	....	apprentice editor
Ed Dobbs	....	dailies timer (uncredited)
Valance Eisleben	....	digital intermediate editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Tony Blondal	....	booth supervisor
Tony Blondal	....	orchestrator
Richard Bronskill	....	orchestrator
Stephen Coleman	....	music programmer
Nic Harcourt	....	music consultant
James T. Hill	....	scoring mixer
Rolfe Kent	....	conductor
Mike Knobloch	....	music executive
Phil McGowan	....	mix recordist
Meredith Meyer	....	score coordinator
Dan Savant	....	orchestra contractor
Alistair South	....	music assistant
Nick South	....	music editor
Greg Townley	....	scoring mixer
Alice Wood	....	midi programmer
Vincent Cirilli	....	protools engineer (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Kelly Charlton	....	transportation
Terence Chase	....	driver
Terence Cochlan	....	hair/make-up driver
Scott Irvine	....	transportation coordinator: reshoots
Larry Tardif	....	driver: special equipment

Other crew
Carolyn Adair	....	stand-in: Kim Basinger (as Caroline Matthews)
Tom Bahr	....	picture boat consultant
John Balfour	....	background coordinator
Patrice BelleRose	....	helicopter pilot: second unit (as Patrice Belle Rose)
Kimberly Buckham	....	assistant production coordinator: additional photography
Kyle Cooper	....	title sequence: executive producer
Jason Crosby	....	marine coordinator
Katharine Currie	....	accounting trainee
Hanelize de Beer	....	second assistant production coordinator
Ryan Fehr	....	production assistant
Ashley Fester	....	production assistant
Jim Filippone	....	helicopter pilot: camera
Michelle Gasque	....	clearance/product placement coordinator
Jennifer Giannone	....	assistant accountant
Elspeth Grafton	....	script supervisor
Dan Griffin	....	key office production assistant
Braden Haggerty	....	dive safety team
Braden Haggerty	....	dive safety
Glenn F. Haines	....	acting coach
Stephanie Hamilton	....	production assistant
Beth Henderson	....	production assistant
Lauren Henry	....	animal provider
Paul Jasper	....	animal coordinator
Jina Johnson	....	assistant location manager
Karin Korchinski	....	assistant production coordinator
Joey Levy	....	assistant: Mr. Platt
Sarah Long	....	office production assistant
Tony Lort	....	accounting clerk
Julian Marles	....	production assistant
Bliss McDonald	....	production coordinator
Earendil McNay	....	script supervisor: second unit
W. Robert Millar	....	assistant location manager
Veronica Miller	....	assistant accountant
Alexandra Muirhead	....	production assistant
Heather Murray	....	production assistant
Frédéric North	....	helicopter pilot: second unit (as Fred North)
Korey Petrie	....	production assistant
Cynthia Phillips	....	post production accountant
Marijke Richman	....	production assistant
Kevin Rosenberg	....	creative assistant: Mr. Platt
Andy Scott	....	assistant: Zac Efron
Shawn Seifert	....	boat wrangler
Josh Skye	....	asset coordinator
Josh Skye	....	production assets
Cherie Smid	....	assistant animal handler
Louise Smith	....	accounting clerk
Adrienne Sol	....	production coordinator: additional photography
Kimberley Sutton	....	assistant: Michael Fottrell
David M. Taylor	....	payroll
Elaine Thurston	....	production accountant
Cheryl A. Tkach	....	post production coordinator
Conor Welch	....	creative assistant: Mr. Platt
Geoff White	....	set security
Mike Witherington	....	cast security
Stirling Bancroft	....	sailing technical advisor (uncredited)
Nicole Mak	....	dailies film assistant: Deluxe Vancouver (uncredited)

Thanks
Michael Storm Raven	....	very special thanks

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures (presents)
• Relativity Media (in association with)
• Marc Platt Productions
• Charlie Film Productions

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (2010) (USA) (theatrical)
• Solar Entertainment (2010) (Philippines) (theatrical)
• Toho-Towa (2010) (Japan) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2010) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2010) (Philippines) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2010) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures Canada (2010) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures International (UPI) (2010) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures International (UPI) (2010) (France) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures International (UPI) (2010) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Zon Lusomundo Audiovisuais (2010) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Film1 (2011) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2011) (Greece) (DVD) (blu-ray)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2011) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2011) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2010) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2010) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)

Special Effects

• Mr. X
• Rhythm and Hues

Other Companies

• Canada Film Capital  tax incentive consulting services
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera dollies
• Digital Media Services (DMS)  digital marketing asset management
• EFilm  digital intermediate
• Happy Feet Foley  post-production sound services (foley services)
• Intelligent Media  international monitoring agency
• Pictorvision  aerial camera system provided by
• Prologue Films  titles
• Scarlet Letters  end crawl
• Soundelux  post-production sound services
• Technicolor  release printing
• Vantage Film  HAWK anamorphic lenses provided by
• Varèse Sarabande  soundtrack
• William F. White International  grip and lighting equipment

Also Known As:

"The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud" - UK, USA (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language including some sexual references, an intense accident scene and some sensuality

Runtime:

USA:99 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #46134) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Malaysia:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Australia:M | Ireland:12A | South Korea:12 | Japan:G | Portugal:M/12 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Argentina:13 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 (DVD rating) | Sweden:11 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Eagle Harbour, West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

An open online casting call was held for the part of Sam St. Cloud.

Goofs:

Continuity: Before Charlie and the Tess have dinner she says she is leaving to sail in 3 days. After they eat she says she is leaving in a week.

Quotes:

Sam St. Cloud:I'm okay Charlie. I'd give anything for you to see me. What I've become, but no one ever gets to see what could have been.
Charlie St. Cloud:Sorry I had to break our deal.
Sam St. Cloud:It was time. It's beyond anything we ever imagined Charlie.
Charlie St. Cloud:I hurt as bad as the day you died.
Sam St. Cloud:You hurt because you're alive.
Charlie St. Cloud:We'll always be brothers.
Sam St. Cloud:Promise, everyday, come rain or shine, through Hell or high water?
Charlie St. Cloud:...I promise.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Breakfast: Episode dated 8 October 2010" (2010)

It's not 'The Sixth Sense' but Zac Efron delivers...

Charlie St Cloud is the type of movie many people will love to hate. The plot is simply contrived and the script is somewhat identical to Shyamalan's film "The Sixth Sense" yet I was very much moved by the story of Charlie St. Cloud and by Zac Efron in the title role. It looks like Zac is going out of his way to shred that teenage 'High School Musical' image that he is now known for.

When we first meet Efron in the title role he looks to be a young man with a bright future. A scholarship to Stanford awaits as he graduates high school from his New England coastal town where he enjoys sailing with his younger brother Charlie Tahan. The two share some heart warming chemistry as brothers, those who have younger siblings will understand the brotherly love between the two.

However, a cruel trick of fate puts the two of them in the path of an oncoming drunk driver. Both die, but a determined, spiritual paramedic played by Ray Liotta manages to bring Efron back.

As per an agreement they made minutes before the crash, Zac and Charlie still meet in the woods every day to play catch and work on Charlie's baseball skills. It's all Efron lives for. By some trick of fate he can communicate and see his deceased brother. Efron's forgotten Stanford and he now works at the local graveyard, to be close Charlie so that He can fulfil the promise he made.

I won't go into it too much except that the climax is something that we have seen before yet it is still touching and shows that we must learn that the true value of life is to live and let live.

I came out of the cinema feeling good and that is what the film is all about- loving life. My only criticism is that Liotta and Kim Basinger(as the mother) don't have enough screen time, although i must say that Liotta still manages to impress even with this small supporting role. Zac Efron and Charlie Tahan deliver strong performances as the two brothers and Amanda Crew is pretty decent. The film is beautifully shot and the scenery is quite breathtaking at times.

We've seen quite a few romantic dramas this year(Dear John, The Last Song)- but this has to be one of the most touching(not the most original i must say) but still, it'll make you feel good inside. So my advice is go watch the movie or rent it when it comes out on DVD and don't believe those critics who's job it is to tell us how bad the movie must be just because it didn't earn $100 million at the box office.