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Charlie St. Cloud shows Zac Efron's acting skills have improved dramatically since High School Musical."
Synopsis: Charlie St. Cloud is a young man overcome by grief at the death of his younger brother. Charlie has a special lasting bond with his brother though, as he can see him. Charlie meets up with his brother (Sam) every day to play catch and talk. Then, a girl comes into Charlie's life and he must choose between keeping a promise he made to Sam, or going after the girl he loves.
Cast: Zac Efron (High School Musical, 17 Again), Amanda Crew (Sex Drive, She's the Man), Charlie Tahan (I Am Legend) with Ray Liotta (Good Fellas), Kim Bassinger (Batman) and Donal Logue (Zodiac, Just Like Heaven)
Review:
Acting: I always thought that Zac Efron would be just another child actor that can't act and only have his looks to get himself acting jobs. After, just 20 minutes into Charlie St. Cloud, I concluded I was wrong . He shows emotion very well in any situation and can maybe squeeze a few tears from the ladies with at least 3 crying scenes.
Charlie Tahan plays his little brother Sam very well. Zac and Charlie have great chemistry together from the start. Tahan is perfect for the part of little brother that is loving, yet a major brat. He says some things that children shouldn't say, but you expect every 12 year old kid to do these things. I really enjoyed the scenes between the brothers because they actually seemed like they have been with each other their whole lives.
The rest of the cast including Charlie's love-interest are just about-average when it comes to acting. The scenes between Zac and Amanda shows that they have some interest in eachother, but not as much as you know he does with Vanessa Hudgens in real life. Also, the rest of the cast don't really have long enough screen time to get a full sense of their characters. Example, Kim Bassinger is only in the movie for around 10 minutes at the most. Even though Ray Liotta is in the film about the same amount of time as Kim, he has a vital role in the film and acts as good as he always does.
Plot: Charlie St. Cloud will be compared to the numerous Nicolas Sparks films, but it has a grander taste of supernatural. The plot is not as original as some might think, but it does have some nice little twist and some "stolen" ones also. I won't reveal the big "twist" at the end, but if you have seen The Invisible then you should think of some plot details pretty early in.
If you catch on to the twist early on, which most guys will, but it may be masked by Zac Efron's looks to the girls, you may feel like it just drags on forever. If you don't happen to catch onto the "twist" then you may get a huge shocker.
The story is filled with laughing, crying, fighting and romance. The women will love it. Guys may have some trouble getting into it, but they will eventually settle into having to see it multiple times with their girlfriends.
Final Thought: The acting is surprisingly great and the plot may be a little stolen from other films (The Invisible), but it does have it's enlightening romantic moments that every 17 year-old girl will love. The supernatural aspect is intriguing to the people who couldn't care less about romance.
B-
Benjamin Myers
PSN ID and gamertag: fusionman15
Email: BenMyers92@gmail.com
