The box-office fate of Charlie St. Cloud probably hinges on the current status of 22-year-old Zac Efron as a teen idol. The former High School Musical star has probably been eclipsed by the Twilight stars, but he still has a sizable following a young female fans who are likely to turn out in droves to see him in what critics have described as a film tailor-made for him. Critics zero-in on his performance. "Efron sends the message that he's more than another pretty face, that he's got the chops to stick in this business," writes Roger Moore in the Orlando Sentinel. Bruce DeMara in the Toronto Star observes that Efron's "bounteous good looks will always beg the cynical question "Yeah, he's a hottie, but can he really act?' Actually, he can -- just not well enough to make Charlie St. Cloud a great movie." Indeed, Diyah Pera comments in the New York Daily News "If Zac Efron hadn't signed on, this sappy spiritual fantasy would certainly have skipped the cineplex altogether -- in favor of eternal rotation on cable." But Liam Lacey in the Toronto Globe and Mail is unpersuaded about Efron's acting chops. "He stares blankly off in the distance and you forget about the story and wonder what kind of shade those eyes are. When Charlie starts hitting the Jack Daniels, you can't help feeling the bottle should have a rubber nipple on it," he writes. But Betsy Sharkey in the Los Angeles Times is forgiving to a fault, writing, "The good news is that Efron continues to get better with each film; he just hasn't gotten a role yet that will finally put his acting potential to the test."
30/07/2010
