Charlie St. Cloud Directed by: Burr Steers Starring: Zac Efron, Amanda Crew, Donal Logue Rating: PG-13 Release Date: July 30, 2010
TRAILER SCORE: 5/10
MY THOUGHTS: Sorry to all the Footloose fans, but Efron has kicked off his Sunday shoes indefinitely. This trailer is proof that the actor is now taking the straight and narrow. However, it doesn't seem like the actor's ready to leave the teen drama behind. Don't get me wrong, as long as Efron remains good-looking, teens are still bound to come flocking to any of his movies (except Me and orson Welles but to be fair, that was "about an old guy" according to my 11-year old cousin). Still, throw in a tragic circumstance and a smarmy romance, you've got yourself a movie. Only way it could sell better is if it was by Nicholas Sparks, but alas, no luck. Still, as new age, touchy feely as this movie looks there is something nice about this trailer. I wouldn't go so far as to say "emotional sincerity," but it's in the ballpark. The trailer focuses far too much on the romance than the real issue at hand, which is the idea of losing someone and the guilt that comes from moving on. There's always this fear that "moving on" is the same as forgetting about them, a fear that I've felt firsthand so if Charlie St. Cloud can lose some of the romance and the third act "must overcome my grief in the name of love" thing and accurately portray the grief, then it might be something worth looking into, but I'm not holding my breath.