Friday, July 30, 2010

'Charlie St. Cloud'


Mark Jenkins starts his review of 'Charlie St. Cloud' thus:

A fresh-faced zombie movie with an uplifting moral, Charlie St. Cloud purports to grapple with matters of life and death. But this ode to "moving on" from grief packs so little genuine emotion that it will touch only the most susceptible of viewers.

As the title character, Disney pinup Zac Efron doesn't have enough substance to be a cloud; he's more like a barely perceptible Pacific Northwest drizzle, although he'll presumably become more noticeable to the film's target audience each time he takes off his shirt.


I saw a trailer for 'Charlie St. Cloud' which included an exchange between two characters outdoors. Every shot of Character A was lit by the sun, while in every shot of Character B (a few feet away) the sun was obscured by clouds. The effect, cutting quickly back and forth during a conversation, was jarring -- embarrassing to watch. I completely wrote the movie off based on just that scene.

The script (by all accounts) is weak, the direction was of the 'furniture-mover' variety, and editing barely qualifies as utilitarian. And, why feature a technically flawed scene in the trailer?

I don't know why they even bothered if nobody cared about the material.




No comments:

Blog Archive