Entertainment / Charlie St. Cloud Charlie St. Cloud: Meh, But Zac Efron Goes Shirtless! Critics aren't impressed, but most think Zac is great By Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff Posted Jul 30, 2010 1:10 PM CDT Copied In this publicity image released by Universal Pictures, Charlie Tahan, left, and Zac Efron are shown in a scene from "Charlie St. Cloud." (AP Photo/Universal Pictures, Diyah Pera) Critics agree on one thing when it comes to Charlie St. Cloud: Tween girls will love it, thanks to the number of times Zac Efron takes off his shirt. Beyond that they’re split, though the majority aren't enthusiastic: The movie, about a teen who loses his brother in a car accident, “tries to capture the crushing weight of loss, but between the insipid pop tunes and the repetitive shots cutting away to a lighthouse on a scenic outcropping, it feels more like a film version of a condolence card,” writes Claudia Puig in USA Today. “Zac Efron can act,” declares Rex Reed in the New York Observer, but the script “is so sappy you want to laugh.” Efron “deserves better movies than Charlie St. Cloud.” It's “a delicate film," Mick LaSalle writes for the San Francisco Chronicle, "that holds together on the strength of Efron's physical presence and performance." The film is inconsistent, writes James Berardinelli for ReelViews. It gives “the impression that the filmmakers are making things up as they go along, and a lot of those things don't make sense.” For more on how Zac Efron has been spending his free time while waiting for the movie to premiere (hint: strippers), click here. (More Charlie St. Cloud stories.) Report an error