Zac Efron sees dead people — and almost-dead people — in “Charlie St. Cloud,” a maudlin and unintention ally hilarious romantic wee pie whose main assets are Efron’s baby blues and the even more lovely British Columbia locations masquerading as New England.
Efron’s Charlie works as the caretaker of a cemetery containing the remains of his brother, Sam (Charlie Tahan), who died five years earlier in a drunken car crash for which the brooding Charlie still holds himself responsible.
One day, a lovely young woman named Tess (Amanda Crew) turns up to tend her father’s grave — and, wouldn’t you know, she’s a famous yachter about to embark on a round-the-world race.
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This complicates Charlie’s relationship with Sam, with whom he talks during baseball practice every day at sunset. (Heck, in this town, it almost always seems to be sunset.)
Sam fears Charlie will “abandon” him because Charlie’s own interest in sailing — abandoned along with a college scholarship after that unfortunate accident — has been reawakened by Tess.
Our hero is also being urged to get on with his life not only by his mother (Kim Basinger in a paycheck cameo) but also the dying paramedic (Ray Liotta) who brought Charlie back to life after the accident.
Things come to a head when Tess shows up with a not-so-mysterious head wound — and leaves Charlie a note saying “save me” after they spend the night together.
No, she’s not asking Charlie to save her from a bad script, although she probably should.
By this point, the not-untalented Efron is drowning in clichés — the movie literally hits bottom when Charlie hits the bottle.
“Charlie St. Cloud” is unsteadily piloted by Burr Steers, who also guided Efron in the far better “17 Again” and directed the well-received “Igby Goes Down” in 2002.
When the dying Liotta gives Charlie a St. Jude medal — the patron saint of hopeless causes — it’s pretty clear that the movie itself is a hopeless cause.
This is the worst supernaturally themed sports movie since “The Legend of Bagger Vance.”