Charlie St. Cloud
Tags: melodrama

Plot synopsis:
I just watched the movie, then read the following synopsis. It is very different from the movie, so I am assuming it is a synopsis of the book, which preceded the movie and which I didn't read. Charlie is about 18 in the movie (he graduates high school and is planning to start college in the fall) and Sam is 11, before the movie advances 5 years. The details of the car crash below are very different. Charlie agrees to drop Sam off at a friend's house on his way to a party, the last before his friend leaves for boot camp. Charlie is stopped with the wheels turned left, waiting for a lull in the traffic so he can turn left, when a car rear-ends him, sending him into the left lane, where an 18-wheeler then crashes into the passenger side of the car. Charlie becomes the caretaker of the cemetery - not an undertaker. When Tess is "in between," she notices that she can't see her reflection in a window (not the water.) When Charlie doesn't make it back to the cemetery by sunset, because he is looking for Tess and her boat, Sam goes into the light. After Tess's boat flips over, she is not hanging upside down. Charlie finds her lying on nearby rocks. Tess recovers from the boat accident and goes home, before Charlie is let out of the hospital. Charlie doesn't become a paramedic. Charlie goes to the woods by the cemetery to say goodbye to Sam before he and Tess sail around the world. He can no longer see Sam. It's not clear if he can hear him or not. Sam is not upset that Charlie didn't make it back that other night. He says it was time, that crossing over is better than he could have imagined.Charlie St. Cloud (age 15) and Sam (12) are two brothers with a love so strong, no force can separate them. When their mom leaves Charlie to babysit Sam, they decide to go to watch a 1991 Red Sox baseball game in Boston against the New York Yankees with their pet beagle, Oscar. They "borrow" their neighbor Mrs. Pung's Ford Country Squire. On the way there they cannot decide which CD to listen to. As they cross the General Edwards bridge on the Saugus River, on the way home, Charlie decides to take a look at the moon to see if Sam was right about the moon being larger that night. Charlie does not see an 18-wheeler truck come and they end up tumbling twice crushing Sam along the way. When they are dead, they find themselves close to the cemetery in Marblehead, the town where they live. Sam is scared and Charlie makes a promise that they will never abandon each other. However, Charlie gets resuscitated in an ambulance by a religious paramedic, Florio Ferrente and carries on living.
Five years later, Charlie has grown up and is working at the Marblehead cemetery. Every evening at dusk he goes to a nearby forest where he plays with Sam. Charlie has the gift of seeing ghosts. This serves him well as an undertaker, as he can talk with ghosts.
In the town lives Tess Carroll, a yachtswoman who wants to make a round the world trip. A week prior to her departure, she directs her yacht in to a storm to test it, not listening to her shipsman Tink Weatherbee, who told her not to go into the storm. The storm sucks Tess into its grasp and the ship flips, leaving Tess hanging on upside down. Tess appears at the cemetery where her dad is buried. While regarding her father's memorial, she hears a loud clanging noise, which is Charlie scaring away the geese with his methods of banging trash can covers togeher. She remembers Charlie from high school and wonders if he remembers her. They both talk and Charlie ends up asking Tess to come over for dinner that night. Both are not entirely sure of this arrangement for different reasons. Tess is concerned with the fact that she never really was a true believer in love, and Charlie is worried that this could come in between his promise to him and Sam. The next day while taking a walk with her dog, Bobo, Tess realizes that people ignore her when Bobo comes off his leash and nobody hears her saying to stop him. She then looks into the water and realizes that her reflection is not there. What is more, she can see Sam St. Cloud, the boy who died 13 years ago.
While at lunch the next day after their date, an officer comes in and states that Tess's boat, the Querencia, has gone missing and parts of the ship have been found. Charlie is shocked at the thought that Tess could be dead. He had heard of "middle ground" where spirits would stay until they were ready to pass over to the next level. He had seen many come and go quickly and others who liked to stay like his brother. In the meantime everyone in the town in possession of a boat, including Charlie, explores the harbor in order to look for Tess's body. Charlie questions his sanity because the night they shared together was so real and Tess was full of life. There was no way she could possibly be gone.
Everyone gives up the search, but then Charlie feels that there is one place he has to go. With Sam's help he finds Tess's body. Tess is transported to a hospital where the doctors stabilize her in a deep coma.
A few months later, Charlie decides to quit his job and move on, bidding a final farewell to Sam, now 25 years old from crossing over. He is now a paramedic at Engine 2 on Franklin Street. During his last visit at the hospital Tess wakes up. Charlie remembers how they met, and Charlie tells her the story of how they met and fell in love at Marblehead Cemetery.

Review: Charlie St. Cloud (Zac Efron, who holds in own in this rather implausible role) is a highly regarded young sailor who is wins a sailing scholarship to Stanford upon graduation from high school.
He is devoted to his younger brother Sam (Charlie Tahan) and his single mother nurse Claire (Kim Basinger - don't blink or you'll miss her very brief appearance in the film).
Charlie is devastated over Sam's death and gives up his chances for a life by taking a custodian job in the town cemetery so he can be near a certain spot where he 'sees' and communicates with Sam every sunset - a life long promise to never leave his little brother.
Five years pass and Charlie's friend Alistair (Augustus Prew) - his only other friend Sully (Dave Franco, brother of actor James Franco) has gone into the military - tries to encourage Charlie to date, but Charlie's eyes fall on Tess (Amanda Crew), a fellow sailor from the past, and love begins.
Though the story is heavy on the saccharine edge and strains credibility, the team of actors is very fine - especially Zac Efron, whose presence is on the screen in practically every frame - so the film ends up being endearing.
As I watched this movie I felt like I was viewing my own life story...In 1991 I lost my little brother to a tragic accident as well.
After the death of her younger son, she moves out of town and you never really learn why.Despite that minor criticism, Charlie St. Cloud is a moving film that should be seen by all generations for the life lessons imparted..
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.
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.
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.
"Charlie St. Cloud" is just that, a romantic drama, nothing more and nothing less.There is nothing profound, although with a few thoughtful dynamics, it's just the story of a young man (Zac Efron) unable to overcome the tragic death of his younger brother until he meets a beautiful girl who shares his same passion for sailing.The problems are plentiful, with cringe-worthy dialogue, supporting actors who haven't yet learned how to act, no affecting drama producing few tears, and there just isn't enough to completely hold your attention.
He remains locked in a state of grief until he rekindles with his friend from high school."Charlie St. Cloud" is beautifully filmed, with great artistic scenes and amazing sceneries.
Absolutely gorgeous scenery and cinematography, original ideas and scenes (I loved the graveyard scene when Tess and Charlie are chasing each other around with candle lights and pretty music, there was nothing at all about it that I'd seen before), very good acting, and a very beautiful story is what made this movie so great in my eyes.
All in all, I give this movie 10/10 because I went in theaters to see it twice, I am thoroughly impressed with Zac and the career choices he has made, I loved how uniquely it was filmed and how original the story was, and I'm just a sappy hopeless romantic so I love films like this..
He has some great acting from Charlie Tahan in particular to raise the rating a notch or two too.The opening is neatly crafted as back story explaining how brothers Charlie (Efron) and Sam (Tahan) are as inseparable in death as in life.
What Charlie Tahan succeeds in doing is taking the simple and raw and keeping it simple and raw, something Efron needs to work on.Amanda Crew is good as the romantic interest and there are a couple of cameos from Kim Basinger and Ray Liotta.Now I will not plot spoil to reveal the bigger flaws in the script but I was not expecting a revelation to be made in quite the way it was, and at the time was left thinking - that's stupid it should have been done differently without spoiling the story - but that is show business for you!
On the level of pushing emotional buttons, this film hits them pretty hard: everything from raw attraction (a nearly constant undertone) to outright laughing (I loved the running gag with the geese) to embarrassment (one scene shows how even someone as good-looking as Efron can fall completely flat on his face in an awkward blind-date situation) to aching from a sense of loss and separation and loneliness.
It might have been more interesting if they'd taken it in that direction.) Perhaps the plot is a little bit predictable and the surprise twist isn't a huge surprise, but it does hit Charlie's character hard, and Efron and Crew make it work.I gave it an 8 out of 10, because it mostly succeeds at what it tries to do.
Charlie St. Cloud's kid brother Sam was killed in an accident, but Charlie had promised to play catch with him at dusk every day, and the kid's ghost keeps showing up expecting older bro to keep his word.
(Did I mention that already?)So that leaves us with the only real dilemma posed by this low-wattage would-be tear- jerker: mawkish or maudlin, mawkish or maudlin?Sam is played by the young actor Charlie Tahan, and even while watching the movie my mind kept drifting off to thots of what the on-set reaction would be when Director Burr Steers said something like "Charlie, you stand over here."; who, really, did he mean, the actor or the character?
Like most Americans, I have found myself bewitched by Zac Efron; his stunningly blue eyes, his sullen good looks and his perfectly tousled hair make him a great leading man.
But alas, not even his good looks could save this film.The premise is interesting enough, a senior in high school who has the world on a string suddenly finds himself plunging down a path of apathy and regret after the death of his 12 year old brother.
After watching this I didn't come away thinking much of it.The acting was good and everything but for me the story line fell apart towards the end.There was some beautiful scenes that were well filmed so its without a doubt watch-able.I would also say it wasn't predictable which is good but sometimes I couldn't keep up and didn't understand a few conclusions to different parts of the story line.However Efron played the lead well and it was believable...I think I'll have to watch it again to get a good feel for it.
The legion of female teenage fans who turn up in droves for this preview screening is probably testament to the drawing power of Zac Efron, probably Hollywood's latest heartthrob who's standing his ground with his alpha male status from the High School Musical series, to films like Hairspray and 17 Again where he plays a star basketballer who's life didn't turn out as he thinks.
In Charlie St. Coud, a romance flick with its title named after his character (which tells a lot about his ability to marquee a film), he too plays a star sportsman (here it's sailing) whose championship potential got cut short by tragedy, which turned him into someone who can see and communicate with dead people.I kid you not if you think this was a Shaymalan picture, but it's more Disney friendly that you can imagine, with his powers only limited to communicating with spirits caught in limbo, and thus making him the town looney where it's best to leave him alone.
His powers only came where he was pulled from the brink of death by a paramedic (Ray Liotta) some five years ago, where his babysitting of his young brother Sam (Charlie Tahan) turned out tragically in ways that's not his fault, because Zac Efon's the latest blue eyed boy of the industry, and his character cannot be all that negative (see uproar cause by 17 Again's premarital sex)From what would be the promise of sailing challenges and scholarships, Charlie becomes a cemetery caretaker in the same cemetery his brother got buried in, so as to be able to play catch with him every evening deep in the woods without fail, as his guilt made him succumb to not being able to let go and move on.
To most he's a lost cause, that his second stab at life was wasted in doing something menial other than to change the world or something, but this doesn't bother Charlie so long as he gets to seek out his dead brother as a confidante.But of course a romance movie will suggest to you that love will conquer all and set him free, and this comes in the form of Tess (Amanda Crew), his school mate admiring him from afar, sharing his same passion for sailing (not spook interacting) and is gearing up for the challenge of sailing solo around the world.
Curious about Charlie and never hiding the fact that she's interested in him, they soon hook up, but there's more to this romantic angle that I will like to give it credit to as I didn't see it coming, feeling rather bored about the film until a spanner got thrown into its narrative to shake things up a little.The one thing working against Charlie St. Cloud's favour is just how convenient things can turn out to be, especially in its final act involving shooting stars (told you it's far out) and stroke of lucks, but for fans of Efron these can all be overlooked so long as their hero gets plenty of screen time as a romantic lead spouting lines like never leaving you, and being together forever, anything that's swoon-worthy enough to appeal to his demographic fan base.
Charlie St. Cloud (Zac Efron- High School Musical, Hairspray) is a  talented young man who is overrun by grief after his kid brother Sam  dies in a car accident.
Charlie St. Cloud is a film that gives you exactly what you are expecting: a story of brotherly love and learning to deal with loss.
Charlie St. Cloud is a film that delivers what you are expecting and nothing more, but it could've been a much better movie if a few changes were made.
Charlie St. Cloud also has some awesome cameos and let's face it, Zac Efron was pretty good in 17 again, so I took a chance.
Charlie has a decision to make does he stay for Sam or go save Tess.In his first adult role Zac Efron was believable as the pain stricken brother.
Charlie is given the gift of seeing his dead brother and others who he has lost such as his friend who died in the military, but when the girl he falls in love with's life is at risk, he must choose between his girlfriend and his brother." Watching this movie was very intriguing and I felt like the movie was underrated.
Although he's made some odd/silly career choices of late I think Zac Efron is a better actor than people give him credit for, and this film is one he made during the transition from teen movies to leading man.It's not as good a film as it could've been however, and contains lots of elements that we have seen used better elsewhere, but that is not to take away from a good performance from Efron, who manages to find the balance between the romance/drama sides of the role effectively.This re-collaboration with his '17 Again' director, Burr Steers is a decent attempt at a grown up role..
He's tentative about leaving his small New England fishing village (the location of the story according to Ben Sherwood's novel and website), but he has high hopes for his future with the whole summer to say goodbye to the town.In the meantime, he promises his little brother, Sam St. Cloud (Charlie Tahan), that he won't disappear like their father, and he emphasizes his promise with another: since they don't have money for expensive baseball camps, he will help Sam improve his baseball skills everyday for the duration of the summer (up until he has to enter Stanford the following fall semester).
The graveyard job is a kind of symbolism for wasted time, lost opportunities, and the like; it probably isn't mockery against a potentially good job.Writing about this basic premise, however, makes the story seem more emotional than it came across in the movie.
There's not enough time in between each of those events for us to feel the emotion or even care much; I did care, but barely.'Charlie St. Cloud' actually has a lot of supernatural elements to it, considering the main character can interact with his dead brother.
Charlie St. Cloud(Zac Efron) lives a pretty simple life as a gardener for a cemetery.
Zac Efron gives a pretty effective performance, so does Charlie Tahan, and they have great scenes together.
The film is a mediocre sentimental would be tearjerker and Efron is adequate in the lead.Efron plays the title character, a young man who is the victim of a deadly car crash that takes the life of his brother Sam (Charlie Tahan).
If you're looking for a Zac Efron film, rent Charlie St. Cloud.
Charlie St. Cloud is the newest Zac Efron film; nothing more, nothing less.
Things get even worse when the plot takes a page out of "The Sixth Sense" with a twist that literally makes no sense and adds little value aside from the extension of a dying story line.If you want to see the newest Zac Efron film, I totally recommend Charlie St. Cloud.
You'll get more than your fair share of shirtless Zac, "stare off into the wilderness" Zac, and romantic Zac. If you're looking for a good movie that just happens to feature Zac Efron, I'd steer away from Charlie St. Cloud.
Saw 'The Death and Life of Charlie St Cloud' as somebody who really liked the idea, has found that Zac Efron has grown as an actor and wanted to see how he would fare in one of the first roles to break from his 'High School Musical' image.
There are some good, great and more even, tear-jerker films out there so there is hardly any bias against them.'The Death and Life of Charlie St Cloud' is definitely watchable and do not have regrets watching it.
Will admit conversely to wanting to like 'The Death and Life of Charlie St Cloud' much more, a case of great potential for the story that was under-cooked in execution and didn't do enough with its more interesting ideas.
An old schoolmate and competitor Tess Carroll (Amanda Crew) returns to town to compete in an important race as the youngest ever.Every time he makes a movie, Zac Efron is showing that he's a real actor.
After I have heard the news that the movie is about to come out I thought that t will be a great opportunity to test my imagination and reassure myself that the book possesses a special attitude that makes the plot very entertaining.I really thought that the choice of Zac Efron for the role of Charlie was a good one.
Charlie St Cloud (Zac Efron) has won a sailing scholarship to university, but promises baseball mad younger brother Sam that he will join him for baseball practice for an hour every evening during the last summer holiday.
After reading the book, I could hardly wait for this film to open and believe me it doesn't disappoint.Zac Efron does a great acting job as Charlie St. Cloud, a boy who has just received a sailing scholarship from Stamford.
Even if I had not known who was going to be playing Charlie in the movie Zac Efron would have been my choice, he just fits the part.He brought everything that was needed in that character to the big screen.
The things I missed from the book in this film, well there's a scene where Tess meets and can see Sam and I think it is a pivotal moment in the book and would have brought more sense to those who watched the movie and had not read the book.
"Charlie St. Cloud" starring Zac Efron is the story of the title character and how he deals with the loss of his younger brother, Sam, (Charlie Tahan) in a car accident made even worse by the fact that Charlie is driving.
Zac Efron delivers his best performance in a movie since its proved he can be serious, yet that doesn't save the film from being bad.The plot goes on Charlie losing his little brother and then he can see ghosts since he was in a near death experience and then he falls in love and blah blah blah.
But the final scenes come together and make the movie overall a good one.Charlie Tahan is his younger brother, Sam St. Cloud, a die-hard baseball fan and a Red Sox fan.