Don’t let the title put you off, Charlie St Cloud is a watchable drama if you are of a certain age and mind set. With Zac Efron (High School Musical) in the lead role you don’t have to be female and 13 to enjoy it but… it helps.

Efron is Charlie St Cloud, a teenager living with his mother (Kim Basinger) and younger brother Sam (Charlie Tahan). From a family of modest means Charlie out-sails his richer peers and has a promising career ahead of him. Being an all round good guy he also finds time to tutor Sam in baseball, making him promise to meet him at the same time every day for practice at sunset cannons.

The film is a vehicle for Efron to flex his leading man muscles but he clearly needs more time in the gym. With a meatier role and a bit more time however...

It is no secret that Sam will die early in the film so the first 25 minutes are spent anticipating his demise. Both die in a car crash but Charlie is brought back to life by amazed “it’s a miracle” Paramedic Ferrente (Ray Liotta).

After this brush with death Charlie sees Sam and other dead people. They could be real ghosts or a sign that Charlie is seriously unhinged. This is the flimsy premise on which the film is based and it just doesn’t wash.  

Charlie refuses to give up on his promise to Sam and they continue to meet and play baseball at sunset cannons every day. To do this Charlie gives up his sailing dreams and works instead at the local graveyard where Sam is buried. Trying to revive his spirits is fellow worker Alistair (Augustus Prew) whose quirky cockney character feels a bit out of place but helps lift the film out of its dream like state.   

A chance encounter with Paramedic Ferrente reminds Charlie of the importance of living life to the full and with this in mind he endeavours to save fellow sailor and love interest Tess (Amanda Crew) from impending disaster.   

With its mixture of supernatural and romantic storylines it could have been a crowd pleaser but it lacks the style and originality that made Sixth Sense (M.Night.Shyamalan) the hit it rightly was.

It is however a moving story told with some elegance. Thanks to some clever editing by Director Burr Steers the pace is good and for those able to tear their eyes away from Mr Efron long enough, there are some beautiful shots of the Canadian scenery.

Extras 7/10
These include deleted scenes with optional commentary by Director Burr Steers. Two featurettes focus on Zac Efron who comes across as a very likeable hard-worker prepared to try anything. The In-between World is a fairly interesting section which discusses the spiritual elements of the film.

Charlie St Cloud is available on DVD and Blu-ray from 7th February 2011.