Life is for living.

Charlie St. Cloud directed by Burr Steers

Zac Efron promotes the film at the Mall of America, Minnesota on July 19, 2010.

Oh, the Zefron. You either love him or hate him don't you? I have to say, back in his High School Musical days, I wasn't really a fan. The whole thing just seemed uber-lame to me...I couldn't seem to get over the whole we're-on-the-basketball-team-and-we're-against-singing-and-dancing-so-to-prove-how-badass-we-are-we're-gonna-break-into-a-choreographed-routine thing. It wasn't until the 3rd and last installment Senior Year rolled around that I began to see the potential under that perfectly side-swept hair (why is it called Bieber-hair? Zac clearly did it first. I'm just saying). At that stage, re-visiting the first two was much more fun, even though Vanessa Hudgens gets on my nerves. I started thinking mmmk I think I see what all the fuss is about here. Then came 17 Again. This was about the time that my full-fledged conversion took place. I have the DVD to prove it. Seriously, I saw it twice. If the version of myself from three years before could see me now, she'd punch me in the face. But in my defence, it's not physical. Okay, yes it is but it's also the fact that he was actually really good in that movie. Being a 21 year old actor playing a 37 year old dad who's been turned in to a teenager again can't be easy. But in my opinion, he totally pulled it off. I was completely convinced the entire time that he was actually Matthew Perry in a younger, much hotter body. Plus I'm a sucker for cute actors who cry in movies. So you can imagine I quite enjoyed Charlie St. Cloud.

Amanda Crew attends the LA premiere at the Regency Village Theatre on July 20, 2010.

Okay, so you have the lovely Zac Efron playing the part of Charlie St. Cloud, a young sailing champion from Washington State. Charlie lives at home with his single mother Claire (Kim Basinger) and kid brother Sam (Charlie Tahan), but not for long because he's scored a sailing scholarship to Stanford University. Sam's devastated that Charlie's leaving him alone, so Charlie makes the promise to practice baseball together every day before he leaves for college. One night, Charlie is (supposed to be) babysitting Sam, but decides to sneak out and unfortunately Sam catches him, demanding that he take him with him. The brothers have a heart-to-heart in the car, with Charlie assuring Sam that he's not ditching him, and that he'll visit all the time. Things seem better until a semi-trailer runs a red light and shatters the St. Clouds's world. In the ambulance, Charlie appears dead, but one determined paramedic (Ray Liotta) revives him and dubs it a miracle. Tragically, Sam isn't as lucky and the next scene shows the town attending his funeral. Charlie is asked to drop the baseball glove on the casket, but refuses and runs away into the woods. Here, Charlie encounters the spirit of Sam, who informs him that he's late for practice; that he thought they had a deal. "We do have a deal," says Charlie between sobs, and from that day onward the boys meet everyday at sunset. Five years pass and Charlie, having turned down the scholarship and quit sailing, is now the caretaker at the cemetary where his brother is buried. He's closed off, anti-social and obsessed with the upkeep of the graveyard. Basically, you could say he doesn't get out much, so forget having a girlfriend. His life revolves around the daily practice sessions with Sam the Ghost, and because of his strange behaviour, most of the town think he's "totally certifiable." That is, except for a fellow classmate from high school, Tess Carroll (Amanda Crew). Tess is also a sailor, and is preparing for a solo trip around the world. A few chance meetings around town, and the pair are infatuated with each other, although Tess doesn't want to start something before her 6 month-long trip. Pretty soon, Sam wisens up to the fact that Charlie's attention is being stolen and accuses Charlie of starting to forget him. From here, it's Charlie's choice whether to live in the past and keep Sam alive through his memories, or let go and move forward: "The more I'm in your world, the less I can be in his." A big decision has to be made when Tess's boat goes missing and he must take one of two paths: attempt to find and rescue her or stay behind to honour the promise he made to his dead brother.

Charlie Tahan & Zac Efron share a moment at the LA premiere, July 20, 2010.

I know what you're all thinking. Sap, sap, sappy. And you'd be right. I can't even begin to tally the amount of tears that fall from Zac's translucent eyes (sigh) throughout this movie. It's a tearjerker for sure so if you hate that romantic, Notebook-esque tragic-but-beautiful type of storyline, you won't be impressed. But if you do, you'll be pleasantly surprised by Charlie St. Cloud and by Efron. Critics are calling his performance a breakthrough into the big leagues of the acting arena. USA Today writer Claudia Puig ... says "based on his performance...and his heartfelt efforts here, Efron seems poised to mature into a substantive actor." Mick LaSalle from the San Fransisco Chronicle states, "Efron gets that much credit just standing there, and then, lo and behold, he can act...simply in his screen essence, he embodies the right qualities of humanity, gravity and aspiration." As for the other cast members, Tahan is ridiculously adorable as Sam, and with an emotionally heavy role like this one, he doesn't crumble under the weight. The brotherly chemistry between Efron and Tahan is genuine, reeling you in from the beginning to make Sam's death and Charlie's sense of loss that much more heartbreaking. Crew is perfectly cast as Charlie's love interest. She's one of those actresses that make you say "What is she from?!" (by the way, it's Sex Drive). Stunningly beautiful with an air of independence and intelligence, Crew gives Tess just the right amount of spice to catch Charlie's interest whilst retaining a certain loneliness similar to his.

Zac Efron & High School Musical girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens pose for photos at the LA premiere, July 20, 2010.

All in all, Charlie St. Cloud is an emotional rollercoaster so you may want to bring the tissues. However, there is some nice comedy slotted in here and there to lighten up the audience when it all seems a bit dark and gloomy. This comes in the form of Charlie's talkative buddy Alistair Wooley (Augustus Prew), although Zac has his own share of one-liners. If you enjoyed seeing Efron shed his Disney-boy status and stretching his grown-up acting muscles in 17 Again and Me and Orsen Welles, you'll love watching this film. I foresee great things in this guy's career...but I guess you can never really count on that (ahem, Lindsay Lohan). One thing you won't foresee, though, is the huge twist about two thirds into this movie...your biggest mistake would be to write it off as a predictable melodrama. Trust me, it's so worth it.

NOW HEAR THIS:  Whilst the official soundtrack is just a collection of scores, there's a great track that plays over the credits, "Pull My Heart Away" by Jack Penate. But the best songs are actually from the trailer: "So Far Around The Bend" by The National and the saddest and greatest song ever, "Run" by Snow Patrol.