What if you never really had to lose the one person that you really love, as long as you gave up living your own life?

Charlie St. Cloud (Zac Efron) and his brother Sam (Charlie Tahan) were inseparable. They were an unstoppable team of sailors, but more importantly, the best of friends. Charlie took on a lot of responsibility with his brother, watching him while his mother worked, and even teaching him the fundamentals of baseball. He had promised Sam that for one hour, every day until he left for college, that he would practice baseball with him.Who knew that this promise would carry on the way it did…

On graduation night, Charlie gets stuck babysitting, so he  tries to sneak out of the house to go see his friends. This backfires a bit when his brother catches him and asks to be dropped off at a friends house. While in the car they are hit by a drunk driver and Sam does not make it. Charlie’s world is crushed, until he sees his brother in the woods, reminding them that they have a deal to practice every day until Charlie leaves. The problem is, that five years later, Charlie is still there. He passed up college, sailing, and any sort of a relationship just so he could fulfill his promise to Sam. Should he spend his life waiting to see his dead brother every day, or start living his own?

I expected this movie to be cute, but I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did. Efron was so vulnerable, yet charismatic as Charlie St. Cloud. You couldn’t help but wonder what you would do if you were in his position… and I am not sure how clear that answer really is. Imagine, what if you didn’t have to ever lose your loved ones? You could continue to see them, but you had to put your life on hold. I’m sure that we all have someone that would make this a tough choice. This film was a very good change of pace for Efron, and I think that he has quite a bit of staying power on the screen. Charlie Tahan was a scene stealer! This kid was funny, and he pretty much dominated every scene that he was in. He and Efron had an amazing chemistry as the St. Cloud brothers.

Obviously, with a storyline like this, you can figure out to an extent how it’s going to end. In this case I don’t think that it is a bad thing. This is a refreshing movie about letting go, without forgetting the ones you love. It’s about living your life. If it were to have some weird, twisted ending, the movie would have lost its hopeful, uplifting nature. So, as predictable as the ending is, I was not disappointed.

The only thing that was slightly odd at first, but made sense later, was that after 5 years of playing baseball Sam did not really improve. I am guessing that nothing about his state could change, since he was frozen in time. He could carry on conversations, and keep current on new events, so I would think that if his brain could move forward, that so could his baseball skills. I guess I can overlook this since it’s not really the point of the film.

I think this film is a much needed change of pace for movie goers. I would just bring a box of tissue, because you are going to cry at some point.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars