Charlie St. Cloud

Zac Efron stars in this murky romantic melodrama, set in the scenic Pacific Northwest, based on Ben Sherwood's novel The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud. Charlie (Efron) had everything to look forward to—including a sailing scholarship to Stanford University—before his car was hit by a drunk driver on a rainy night, killing his kid brother Sam (Charlie Tahan), and leaving the grieving Charlie riddled with survivor's guilt. Paramedic Florio Ferrente (Ray Liotta) notes that Charlie's own heartbeat went flat but then resumed, meaning Charlie's been given a second chance at life. For the next five years, Charlie seeks redemption by playing catch with Sam's ghost, promising to be with the Boston Red Sox–loving 11-year-old every day at sunset—same time, same place. To that end, Charlie takes the job of caretaker at the cemetery where Sam is buried, living on the site, much to the chagrin of his hardworking single mother Claire (Kim Basinger) and high school classmate Tess (Amanda Crew), who yearn for him to return to the land of the living. Formulaically adapted and ethereally photographed, director Burr Steers' film unfortunately evokes memories of M. Night Shyamalan's much better The Sixth Sense. A supernatural, spiritual, and sentimental sob story that doesn't quite work, this is not a necessary purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Burr Steers, an “On Location with Zac Efron” featurette (13 min.), deleted scenes with optional commentary (11 min.), the production featurettes “The In-Between World” (10 min.) and “Zac Efron, Leading Man” (7 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a disappointing film.] (S. Granger)