Zac Efron's next 'Charlie St. Cloud': Charlie St. Cloud exits high school with limitless potential and promise.  He’s the captain of the sailing team, the school’s student athlete of the year, and he’s just been accepted to Stanford.  The future is his until an unexpected tragedy completely changes his world, leaving Charlie with an amazing gift that unfortunately leaves him alone and ostracized by the community.  A kept promise to a loved one keeps Charlie in his hometown until a new person enters his life, creating yet another profound change.

High School Musical veteran Zac Efron stars as the titular character and he casts aside the singing and dancing for a much more serious turn.  I give him credit for the effort, but he still has a long way to go before anyone mistakes him for a high quality dramatic actor.  Charlie St. Cloud is cut from the same cloth as films like The Notebook…that is to say that it will probably appeal to (a) female fans and more specifically (b) Zac Efron fans.  I like what is at the emotional core of the film but the delivery is clunky and awkward.

I can’t give away any plot specifics without spoiling the story for you, but Charlie St. Cloud just can’t elevate itself to the levels its aspires to.  The script needs additional polish and Charlie himself is a strange character; odd and cocky before his life-changing event, and just odd afterwards.  The production looks good but the acting is a little low-rent.  Roles from Kim Basinger, Ray Liotta, and Donal Logue actually distract from the story and the three veterans have little more than cameos.

Charlie St. Cloud has its heart in the right place but it’s a strange story that never quite satisfies.  By the time it’s over you’ll probably realize that you’ve just watched a high-budget Lifetime or Oxygen movie.  It’s not the worst thing you’ll see, but you could have saved some cash and watched a cable movie instead.