FEATURED MOVIE: Charlie St. Cloud

Movie Coverage

Charlie St. Cloud

Based on an acclaimed novel, Charlie St. Cloud is a romantic drama starring ZAC EFRON (17 Again, Hairspray) as a small-town hero who survives an accident that lets him see the world in a unique way. In this emotionally charged story, he begins a romantic journey in which he embraces the past while discov- ering the purpose of his life and the transformative power of love. — E.E. Cummings, Dive For Dreams

Accomplished high-school sailor Charlie St. Cloud (Efron) has the adoration of single mother Claire (Academy Award® winner KIM BASINGER, L.A. Confidential, 8 Mile) and little brother Sam (newcomer CHARLIE TAHAN), as well as a scholarship to Stanford that will lead him far from his sleepy Pacific Northwest hometown. But Charlie's bright future is cut short when tragedy strikes and takes his dreams with it.

Sam (CHARLIE TAHAN) and his brother, Charlie, sail the Sp lendid Splinter. promise to Sam is all that matters anymore. But when his high-school classmate Tess (AMANDA CREW of The Haunting in Connecticut, She's the Man) returns home unexpectedly, Charlie grows torn between honoring the promise he made years earlier and moving for- ward with newfound love.

Like Charlie, Tess has a passion for sailing. Unlike him, she has chased her dreams and will soon embark on an ambitious solo voyage During a car accident, the brothers reach out to one another when it looks as if they are about to die. In that moment, Charlie swears to Sam that he will never leave him. But abruptly, Charlie is revived by the intervention of determined paramedic Florio Ferrente (RAY LIOTTA of Goodfellas, Date Night).

Sam, tragically, could not be saved. Charlie is inconsolable. During his little brother's funeral, he runs from the grave site into the forest behind the cemetery, stumbling upon a small clearing just as day is drawing to a close. In the distance, he hears the sunset cannons sound. Dazed, Charlie looks up and is stunned to see Sam, baseball glove in hand, waiting for him to begin the ball practice that is a part of their evening ritual. Five years go by and Charlie's life has taken a different path than the one about which he dreamed.

He's now the caretaker of Seaside Cemetery where Sam is buried, and his sailboat is stored away on blocks. College, friends and family have been abandoned. Every evening at the gloaming hour, just as the cannons sound, Charlie returns to the glade to play catch with Sam. At sunset, Sam vanishes again. around the world as the youngest skipper to ever compete in this harrowing race. Is it a twist of fate that has brought her into his life now, when she only has a week until she leaves? Just as Sam helps Charlie to find the courage to let go of the past for good and pursue Tess, he discovers the soul most worth saving is his own.