Lord only knows why, but when it first went into production I held out some vague hopes that Charlie St. Cloud could actually be worth watching-- when Amanda Crew signed on to play the love interest, I wrote that "I like the idea of this drama so long as it goes in some weird directions, not Five People You Meet In Heaven sentimental crap." Well, it looks like the joke's on me, because that's exactly what Charlie St. Cloud seems to be.

The film's first trailer has dropped at Apple.com-- you can also watch it embedded below-- and it features a strange combination of sun-dappled cinematography, a la Nicholas Sparks movies, and a Pacific Northwest setting, a la the Twilight franchise. Basically it's a female-targeting double threat that will probably do crazy business, even though the story of a young man getting over his baby brother's death by playing baseball with the kid every week in the forest isn't just hackneyed, but utterly predictable. How much do you want to bet that girl who looks exactly like a young Kate Beckinsale helps him get over his pain!

Check out the trailer below. Charlie St. Cloud comes out July 30, so stock up on tissues between now and then.

Watch in glorious high-res at Apple.com