Script2Screen

Rating:
“Charlie St. Cloud” is the story of a promising high school graduate named Charlie. After his twelve-year-old brother Sam dies, Charlie takes a job as caretaker at the cemetery where Sam is buried. Charlie meets Sam’s ghost every night at sundown for a game of catch and similar brotherly bonding. However, their relationship is threatened when Charlie falls in love and must chose between his brother or the girl.

As much as I want to hate anything Zac Efron is involved with, this undated script was actually good. It’s a story about loving and living. It starts out fairly depressing, seeing the prison Charlie has made for himself. Although the finished movie seems to have shortened the time between Sam’s death and the main story, the script had Charlie having put his life on hold for thirteen years so he can be around to meet his brother every night. He gave up a scholarship to Dartmouth and has given up on all other hopes and dreams so he could keep a promise to his brother. The full title of the screenplay is “The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud” and it’s a fitting title. For the first half of the script, Charlie is no longer living his life. He is merely existing and might as well be dead. It makes sense that he spends most of his time in a cemetery. At the same time, his actions are understandable. The brothers’ relationship is written so well and Sam is so likable that it is hard to criticize Charlie for holding on.

The second half of the script is about Charlie coming back to the land of the living after meeting Tess, a woman who is preparing to sail around the world (a dream once shared by Charlie and Sam). As their relationship grows, Charlie is continuously put in positions where he almost misses his sundown appointments with Sam. These moments are written appropriately tense and create emotional conflict not only for Charlie but also the reader.

And now for minor criticism. SPOILERS BELOW.



The only thing stopping this script from getting a 5 star rating was it’s clumsily written plot twist. It turns out Tess is actually dying in her capsized sailboat. Almost all of Charlie’s interaction with Tess has been with her spirit. Neither of them realize that she is a spirit until near the end. Although I’ve seen this twist before, I don’t hate its use here. The problem is how it is used. This isn’t one like the “Sixth Sense” where you realize all the little clues later. The clues are glaringly obvious in this script. The twist and Charlie’s subsequent rescue of her are horribly predictable. The twist adds emotional impact to the story, but it’s still predictable.


SPOILERS END

If you can forgive the clumsiness of the twist, the story and writing are otherwise pretty good. “Charlie St. Cloud” should be a good date movie and I expect will make plenty of money as such.