An adaptation that smooths out the sharp edges of Ben Sherwood's source novel, it's a decent enough vehicle to flaunt Efron's acting chops.
Shame it’s so slow and contradicts its own strained logic, ending up in the same listless limbo as The Time Traveler’s Wife and The Lovely Bones.
As mawkish as you would imagine – and then some.
It's no masterpiece, but it's several cuts above other recent supernatural sob-stories.
There’s not much on this movie’s mind but photogenic healing, and making all the girls go ga-ga at the sight of Efron mewling with grief.
Though it tries much too hard to be tearjerking, and despite some extremely ropey plot developments, it’s a hard film to dislike.
Future historians of the financial crisis may point to this movie, not Oliver Stone's Wall Street sequel, as the cultural low point of the business world.
What might have been a poignant exploration of the effects of bereavement is hamstrung by rotten twists, redundant action scenes and a few too many publicist-approved shots of Efron staring wistfully into the sunset.
While the subject matter tends towards morbidity, the film-makers strive to divert us with many dappling sunsets, the blue of Ephron's eyes and a sappy melodrama that even 13-year-old girls might scoff at.
THIS tearjerking amalgam of Nicholas Sparks and M Night Shyamalan won't do Zac Efron any favours in his attempts to be taken seriously.
This morbid affair will appeal to the same audience that is attracted to Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. Alongside the popularity of The Lovely Bones, it points to something rather disturbing in the air.
Interview: Zac Efron, actor
Zac Efron interview for Charlie St Cloud
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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