Today's forecast is shite, with a chance of Charlie St. Clouds

As Charlie St. Cloud (Zac Efron) and his younger brother Sean (Charlie Tahan) sail past the competition to win the local Yacht race, the awe-struck Tess (Amanda Crew) mutters "God that boy is good" from her second place-getting boat. If that scene does not set up the tone of the movie for you, then perhaps the two brothers hugging and celebrating against a sunset background will.But the Kodak moment is soon shattered when Charlie is driving Sean to a friends' and they are hit by a drunk driver. Sean dies in the car accident and it looks like Charlie will too when he flat lines in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. But the power of Ray Liotta's terrible acting as the paramedic brings him back to life.

Fast forward five-years and Charlie is now the undertaker at the local cemetery which, for some reason, is full of attractive young workers. His near-death experience has given him the ability to communicate with ghosts, including Sean whom he practises baseball with every afternoon. Tess is now a fully-fledged Jessica Watson wannabe and preparing to sail solo around the world. She still has a crush on Charlie, despite her coach assuring her he's "certifiable." But alas, somehow the two crazy kids bond, flirt and try to make it work. That is until Charlie's sixth sense starts to get in the way.After period dramedy Me and Orson Welles, this is another attempt by former Disney star Zac Efron to make the cross over into more serious roles. He does okay. He cries, he pouts, he smoulders, he broods and he takes his shirt off more than once which is everything an Efron fan could ask for. In fact, his lack of a shirt almost gets to the Jacob Black-level of ridiculous. For instance, the filmmakers manage to find a way for Efron to be shirtless and wet as he dives into the freezing water to rescue his love interest while one of the supporting characters can be heard yelling out in the background "it's ice cold Charlie, you'll freeze." Hypothermia be damned.
There is nothing about his performance that alludes to promise as a mature actor, but there is nothing that condemns him either. The big problems are created by director Burr Steers, whose past credits include 17 Again and the underrated Igby Goes Down. Steers is desperately trying to create a Nicholas Sparks tear-jerker crossed with The Ghost Whisperer. So be prepared for laughable dialogue, sickly sweet sentiments and more sunsets than you can stomach. Charlie St. Cloud is the kind of film where director Burr Steers cares more about making his leading man look like a Ken doll in a watercolour painting, than key elements like logic or plausibility. Let’s not even start with the necrophilia undertones.

Charlie St. Cloud is out on Thursday, September 23.