CHARLIE ST. CLOUD

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The ever-smug Zac Efron charms the birds from the trees as Charlie St. Cloud, a white bread super stud whose perfect-sporty-life is shattered by the death of his 11-year-old brother Sam (Charlie Tahan).

Once a champion sailboat racer, Charlie sulks around his Pacific Northwest town where he fulfills his promise to play catch at sunset every day with his brother's ghost. Sentimental wafts of magical realism-lite blow like a cloying fog over a romance that Charlie peruses with Tess (Amanda Crew), a childhood would-be sweetheart who might also be a ghost.

Director Burr Steers ("Igby Goes Down") obviously wants to make a meaningful movie about recovering from the loss of a family member, but he walks head-on into every cliche trap possible. Ray Liotta's unnecessary performance as a paramedic who brings Charlie back from the dead is just such a device.

"Charlie St. Cloud" will resonate with its 12-year-old female target audience. The rest of us have to pretend like we understand, or ignore the whole thing entirely.

Rated PG-13. 99 mins.