Cloud is a 2010 American supernatural drama film based on Ben Sherwood's novel The Death and Life of Charlie St.
Cloud's choice between keeping a promise he made to his younger brother, who died in a car accident, or going after the girl he loves.
Filming lasted from July to late October 2009, with much of it occurring in upstate New York's forest and Gibsons' coastal pier.
Cloud was theatrically released in the United States on July 30, 2010 to negative reviews, with many criticizing the script's tonal confliction and Efron's performance.
Cloud, with his younger brother Sam, wins a boating race on his sailboat Splendid Splinter, subsequently receiving a sailing scholarship to Stanford University.
Charlie tries sneaking out to the party, but Sam catches him and asks for a ride to his friend Tommy's house.
At the docks, Charlie meets Tess Carroll, an old classmate and sailor planning to solo-sail around the world.
After meeting her on the docks, he believes he's really been interacting with her spirit as she appeared at the cemetery, and he assumes she died at sea.
At sunset, Charlie misses his game with Sam, causing him to move on from the living world as the brothers affirm their love.
[21] Film critic A. O. Scott of The New York Times commended Efron for having enough "geniality and melancholy" in the title role and cinematographer Enrique Chediak for giving the scenery a "convincingly romantic look and mood," but found the film overall conflicted with being a supernatural romantic drama that plays like a horror movie in certain places, concluding that "you are supposed to be transported beyond skepticism on a wave of pure, tacky feeling.
"[22] Bruce DeMara of the Toronto Star gave praise to Efron as the title character but felt it wasn't enough to elevate the film from being "too formulaic, pretentious and cloying," concluding that "if your intent is to drink in the stunning hunkiness of Zac Efron, he's there in virtually every frame, brooding, wry, intense and actually somewhat believable.
"[23] Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "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.
"[24] Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman gave the film a "C−" grade, criticizing Efron's pretty boy facials for not displaying the character's emotional despair but "a fake-profound, lost-idol tranquility.
"[25] The Hollywood Reporter's Kirk Honeycutt called it "the latest to portray everlasting love on the screen and [the film] doesn't just fail, it actually gets sillier by the minute.
"[26] The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw wrote: "Like a high-jumper cracking the bar in two with his forehead, former teen star Zac Efron fails to make it into the Mature Performer league in this unendurable romantic drama, filmed in the buttery late-summer glow I associate with movies such as Message in a Bottle and The Notebook.
"[27] Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe wrote that Efron lacked suitable material to make his character interesting and that Steers' direction "cares not for pacing [or] depth or the power of real emotion," saying "the movie is very much dead already.
It has no pulse, no apparent breath, and a curious odor seems to waft from the screen not long after Charlie and Sam win a race together in the opening scene.
"[28] Mark Jenkins of NPR felt the film lacked "genuine emotion" to backup its concept and that Efron was miscast in the title character role, concluding that, "[U]nlike The Lovely Bones, this film doesn't attempt to show the afterlife as experienced by those who die too young.