Preview: Charlie St. Cloud (2010)

Synopsis:

He promised his younger brother that he would play catch with him every day and teach him a great many things, but when the boy dies and his ghost insists Charlie continue their training sessions, Charlie's guilt forces him to stay even when a beautiful girl enters his life and takes his breath away.

• Poster: C

Review:

It's every bit the glossy contrivance you would expect associated with a Zac Efron film. The lower image is beautiful enough, but it's a secondary image to the girl-baiting upper two-thirds.

• Trailer: C+; C+

Review:

It's a nice idea, but an awful execution. It could still be decent, but Efron is far from the kind of actor who should be handling this film. His bountiful fanbase will likely have encouraged the makers to blend a great deal of saccharine into the narrative and superficially skirt many of the film's more complicated issues.

Not worse than the previous trailer, but not that much better. The previous focused on drama while this one focuses on hope. It's a subtle distinction for me, but to the target audience, it may help drive up attendance.

Oscar Prospects:

None

Release Date:

• July 30, 2010

Full Review Synopsis:

I have not seen this film.

-Wesley Lovell (May 23, 2010) Original

-Wesley Lovell (July 7, 2010) New Trailer