Product Description
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Zac Efron stars as Charlie St. Cloud, a small-town hero and an
accomplished sailor who has it all: the adoration of his mother
and younger brother, and a Stanford scholarship. His bright
future is cut short when tragedy strikes, taking his dreams with
it. Now Charlie is torn between honoring a promise he made years
ago and pursuing his newfound love with a former high-school
classmate. Based on the accled bestseller, comes a story of
hope, second chances and the transformative power of love, also
starring Ray Liotta and Academy Award® winner Kim Basinger.
Bonus Content:
* Deleted Scenes
* On Location with Zac Efron
* Zac Efron, Leading Man
* The In-Between World
* Feature Commentary with Director Burr Steers
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Teen heartthrob Zac Efron (High School Musical, 17
Again) makes an appealing, and wise, choice as the star of
Charlie St. Cloud. Efron is able to flex his dramatic acting
abilities and can stretch, ever so slightly, into a more adult
role, without alienating or being off-putting to his dedicated
young fans. And Efron shows signs of being a terrific young
actor, with nuanced skills that have perhaps been overlooked
until now, because of his appealing pinup-boy looks. Efron is
delicious eye candy in Charlie St. Cloud, no question (though he
has to share some of that role with the beautiful British
Columbia coastline where the film is set), but he also carries
the entire film, which manages to be family drama, tragedy,
adventure, and budding love story--with a good dose of "live your
life to the fullest" advice built in. Efron plays the title
character, a gifted student and sailor who gets a full
scholarship to Stanford. But right after graduation, Charlie is
involved in a life-changing tragedy--one that shatters his family
and his own sense of his place in the world. Efron's Charlie is a
lost young man, dedicated to the aftereffects of the tragic
accident, and turns from promising young upstart to pitiable
recluse--so reclusive that he lives and works at the local
graveyard. The entire cast is wonderful, and they put their
hearts into the sad, yet ultimately uplifting story. Young
Charlie Tahan is winsome as Charlie's younger brother, Sam. Kim
Basinger, too long away from the big screen, is grounded and
believable as the boys' hard-working single mom. Ray Liotta plays
a memorable cameo as a paramedic who helps save Charlie after the
accident. And Amanda Crew is spunky and adorable as the
independent young sailor with a secret crush on Charlie--the
"old" Charlie, who was still interested in embracing life--and
with possibly the only lifeline that Charlie might actually grab.
The chemistry between Efron and Crew is sparkly, and Efron fans
will enjoy seeing their idol in more mature love scenes. But not
too mature--the raciest of the romance scenes involves Efron (not
Crew) taking off his shirt--to fans' delight. If Charlie St.
Cloud isn't too original in its plotting, nor especially crisp in
its direction, it doesn't matter--Efron's screen appeal is plenty
to propel both the story and the action. Efron fans of all ages
will enjoy watching the young actor begin the process of growing
up--just a bit--onscreen. --A.T. Hurley