Review by Lizzie Husher
Stars Zac Efron, Kim Basinger, Ray Liotta, Charlie Tahan,
Amanda Crew, Augustus Prew, Donal Logue | Written by Craig Pearce & Lewis Colick
UK certification 12 | UK RRP £24.99 | BD Region B | Runtime 95 minutes | Directed by Burr Steers
This teenage take on love, loss and letting go is not going to stay with you too long after the credits have rolled, but compared to many of the films of late aimed at adolescent girls, this innocent bromance with a supernatural twist does at least make an attempt at going deeper.
Based on the novel Charlie St Cloud by Ben Sherwood it sees Efron playing the film‘s namesake; an 18-year-old school leaver living in a North Western coastal town who’s about to embark on a sailing scholarship, leaving his single mother (Basinger) and doting little brother Sam (Tahan) behind. When one night his car is involved in a collision however, Charlie finds himself pulled back from the brink of death before discovering Sam has not been so lucky.
Fast forward five years and we find Charlie now living alone in the same small seaside town, having neglected his ambitions and working daily as a maintenance man at the same cemetery in which his brother is buried. But it’s the evenings Charlie lives for; as the cannon signals sundown he goes to meet the ghost of his young brother to whom he’d previously promised nightly baseball lessons. It’s only when the still guilt ridden young man meets fellow sailor Tess (Crew) that he realises he must let the past go in order live the kind of life he’d originally hoped for.
There are plenty of problems with the film; its love story is weak and Basinger and Liotta are wasted in their insignificant roles. Another is that a serious suspension of disbelief is required – not for the scenes in which a human is playing catch with a stiff, rather for those where Efron is supposed to be seen as the town nut. The mesmerisingly symmetrical and impossibly manicured Efron of High School musical fame playing a mistrusted loner is about as believable as Steve Buscemi taking the role of a robust teen heartthrob. But these flaws can almost be forgiven, for the picturesque setting and Enrique Chediak’s stunning cinematography serve as the main catalyst for the movie‘s charm. If the primary purpose of cinema is to transport you to another place, this must be considered successful.
As anyone has seen Ghost or Truly Madly Deeply know, grief and the reluctant acceptance of death is a guaranteed tearjerker plotline. Okay, this is neither of those films; it’s schmaltzy, flimsy and at times a little annoying but it means well, is competently scripted and well enough steered by Efron as to invite the occasional melancholic twinge from the audience.
If you are forced to watch it by your daughter, or your little sister, it might just prove a bit of a guilty pleasure. Just don’t tell your mates you enjoyed it.
EXTRAS ★★½ An audio commentary with Steers; seven deleted scenes, with optional commentary from Steers (10:13); and three featurettes: On Location With Zac Efron (12:40), Zac Efron leading Man (7:05) and The In-Between World (9:58).