Customer Reviews

Stay

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(38)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

Stay is an interesting film. Unfortunately it suffered from very poor and misleading marketing and ended up attracting the wrong audience. True to form, it received many poor reviews from infuriated viewers who were expecting something totally different. It is NOT a horror movie or a movie about the supernatural. Neither is it a thriller as such. Nonetheless it is interesting and well made. As a previous reviewer said, it may appeal to fans of the original "Twilight Zone". As another reviewer more acerbically put it, it will appeal most to the "Artsy-Fartsy" type. The film is deliberately confusing, requires concentration and would definitely benefit from a rewatching, if it hasn't totally turned off the viewer by the end.

The following paragraphs contain spoilers so don't read further if you want to see the movie with a fresh mindset. Just bear the above in mind.

The movie begins with a car crash which we are told nothing about. We are then shown the person from the car crash (Ryan Gosling) seeing a psychiarist (Ewan McGregor). We are not told if this is the future or the past. What follows is surreal, like a dream. The director in his accompanying commentary tells us how he wanted the film to have a "stream of consciousness" feel to it. So, disconnected scenes melt into each other seamlessly in typical dreamlike fashion. The man tells the psychiatrist he will kill himself in 3 days. The psychiatrist then goes on a wild hunt to find out more about his patient. We know from the start that something is not right with the narrative. Clues abound that the narrative is not real. There are also indications that the psychiatrist and his patient are one person. From about a third of the way through the movie, I came under the suspicion that this was all in the psychiatrist's mind. In a way I wish it had gone that route which had more interesting possibilities but the ending chosen was also quite acceptable. The film could easily go down several paths with valid and enjoyable solutions. The ending here puts it all down to a deathbed hallucination on the part of the man in the car crash, a la "Jacob's Ladder", with most of the characters in the movie simply the people who came to pull him out of the car wreck. It is a sad story because as we learn, he was about to propose to his girlfriend who together with his parents, die in the wreck with him. I loved the final dream sequence where he watches his fiancee waltzing in a ballroom while he stands alone outside in the rain. Inadvertently, her partner turns and walks away, leaving her all alone. Its significance comes only on rewatching the film. By the way, for those who were thoroughly confused or did not stay to the end, his fiancee is the girl Athena that the psychiatrist is frantically looking for and she is also the brunette with the child (presumably the son he will never have) that recurs throughout the film. He, Henry, is a college student and artist so naturally his hallucinations include him gaining fame as an artist because he died so "tragically young". The psychiatrist and his artist wife (Naomi Watts) are the doctor and nurse (unrelated) who attend to him at the accident. And the various voices that he hears throughout the film are the voices of the onlookers.

One sequence that was off-base for me was at the end where after the accident, Ewan McGregor's doctor is asking the nurse (Naomi Watts) out for a drink, when there is a flashback to them as husband and wife in Henry's hallucination. As Henry is already dead, the hallucinatory flashback is out of kilter with the logic of the film. Personally I thought it should have been excised. It felt too much like forcing onto the audience a happy ending - "and they lived happily ever after..." But alas, this is Hollywood.

DVD is probably the best way to experience this movie. With its dismal performance at the box office, let's hope it gets a second chance here. Fox has released this in a fine 2.35:1 transfer (Anamorphic) with well-rendered colors and excellent black levels. The 2.35:1 transfer is strangely put on the flipside of a double-sided disc with the "A" side holding a "Panned and Scanned" version. The Dolby 5.1 track sounds equally fine. There are two sets of scene-specific commentaries by director, cast and crew as opposed to a full-length commentary. There is also a 6 minute featurette "Departing Visions" about people who have had near death experiences. There is however no trailer. Neither is there the "Music of Stay" featurette that is mentioned on Amazon's website.

Definitely worth watching. You might not want to splurge on the cost of buying it but it certainly deserves at least a rental.

It's true that this film sat on the shelf for a long time and did horribly at the box office. That can be bad news, but in this case, it simply means that no one knew how to market this film. It was advertised as a horror film, but is more of a Hitchcockian/arthouse film than anything.

This is not a film for everyone, but for those who enjoy films that make you think about the art of the film itself, not just about some supposedly profound 'message' being pushed, this is a great film. Roger Ebert has nailed this film on the head in his review.

I, like a lot of people, found this movie to be amazing and extremely thought-provoking. The cinematography was very creative, and the acting was fantastic. I have to say, the dialogue was a little flat, but, other than that, it was one of the best movies that I saw last year. I blame its lack of success on both the horrible, almost non-existent marketing (which is strange for a movie with such a well-known cast), as well as a lot of people's apathy towards movies that require them to think and analyze. I suspect a lot of people who saw this told their friends that it was "bad" simply because they didn't get it. I will definitely be buying the DVD when it comes out on March 28.

Psychiatrist Sam Foster (McGregor) is filling in for a co-worker when he meets Henry Letham (Gosling). Henry clearly has some problems, and when he tells Sam that he is going to kill himself in a few days on his 21st birthday, Sam decides to try to save him. As Sam begins to look into Henry's life, he finds the line between reality and illusion begin to blur.

"Stay" is all of that and none of that at the same time. Things are not what they seem, and it is interesting to watch things unfold. What could have been a huge twist at the end is instead diffused by scenes early on the let the audience in on what is happening. In fact, it is possible to know what is going on from the very beginning of the film. What makes the movie great is the journey they characters take on the way to the inevitable end.

Director Marc Forster does an amazing job of making all things tie together. If something in the movie seems odd, it is there for a reason, and if you pay close enough attantion, you will see what I mean. The acting is good as well, but is not what makes the movie so good. "Stay" is an entertaining and thought provoking film that I highly recommend.

I have never seen a film that got me involved on such a deep level of creativity. Every single scene change was deeply thought out. Every line, action, outfit, setting, and even extras were deeply thought out. This is the most impressive directing and writing I can remember seeing. See this movie. Listen to Marc Forster's Podcast on Itunes and do your research to get more enjoyment out of every little fact about the film.

This is a film that needs and deserves to be seen more than once. The first viewing you should just immerse yourself in it, absorb the imagery, feel with the characters. If you get confused, stay with it. Then when you watch it again you will start to understand the context and realize just how wonderful it is. It needs to be viewed this way because it takes place primarily inside a human mind processing its own life and death, moving in and out of various states of consciousness. In this world , thoughts become active characters.

It is important that you don't know this initially, so that you experience this reality the same way that Henry does. You must become confused as Henry does and become engaged in the search with him: the search for answers, meaning and ultimately forgiveness. This is the mind's reality and should be the viewer's as well. We can debate later on, if what the mind believes to be real is the true reality. The point is, it believes it to be real and it is real in the sense that it is it's sincere journey, embarked upon with honest fear, grief , guilt, and confusion, trying to make sense of it all .

So you follow Henry's journey, from various states of awareness. Henry's mind in one state, hears the voices and sees some of the faces of the people trying to help him. He pulls in these characters from the outside world ,and creates aspects of himself from them when he goes into a deeper sub-conscious state. Not being aware of what is inside and outside, (`I hear voices, can you tell me which ones are real",) he asks Sam, who enters his world to try and save him.

In this state, the human mind does not realize what characters are actually extensions of it's own personality. So we watch the story of Sam the caring psychiatrist, and Lila the post suicidal artist, who Henry has pulled from the outside world, and creates aspects of himself from them to help him save his life, but they are created from his mind not objective reality. In reality they are the two people closest to him as he lay dying on the street.

He brings these characters and others, into his deeper state, where they converge with the vivid imagery of Henry's past: his thoughts, memories, emotions and artistic perspective. This is a visually stunning world, that shifts often and in interesting ways, the way the sub-conscious works. For example, Lila reflects aspects of Henry's personality, in regard to his own fragile artistic persona, that is also suicidal, can't paint on meds, wonders if their art is any good and if they will be remembered. That they are one and the same is realized by Henry, only when Lila discovers that her art is signed by Henry and she runs to the fence. This is Henry starting to move back towards the conscious world.

The sub-conscious mind as playwright, has its own way of dealing with problems and what it sees makes sense, but it is in a type of code that the conscious mind must translate before there is discovery and understanding. But this is the true life and death struggle of the mind, and it is real. Unlike some gimmick in lesser work, that releases the writer from explanation, and makes the audience feel cheated, this is the authentic reality of the mind. So what you have watched has placed you inside the mind, and rather than detaching you, you have joined in the most intimate way, with another human being. What you come away with after seeing this film is who Henry is, but it is his sub-conscious mind that has told most of the story.

Henry decides that it is too late for him and accepts death. The suicide that occurs on the bridge, ironically jolts him back to life in the conscious world,("I have to wake up now"), where he sees the faces of Sam and Lila trying to help him. Sam tells him that the accident was not his fault, he was driving behind him and saw the tire blow out. This releases Henry from his guilt. My guess is that Henry felt he was to blame because he stopped taking meds so he could paint, and thought it might have affected his driving. (You get hints of that from other places in the film). But it is also from Sam that Henry learns that all the passengers are dead. . At this point , you come to the realization that Henry was driving with Athena,( who he was going to ask to marry him that night, because he had the ring), and his parents, when the accident happens.

As Lila speaks to Henry, he sees the face of his beloved and asks her to marry him. The kind Lila, (who is a nurse), holds him and accepts. Then Henry dies, joining Athena.

When Sam and Lila, (who do not know each other) move away from the body, a flash of Déjà vu occurs. Sam feels some connection to Lila and asks her to have coffee with him. It is possible that a soul that has left his body, but has not moved on yet, can influence the mind of the living. (Henry may have wanted to repay their kindness to him.) There also is the idea of alternate realities.

Whatever conclusion you would choose, Henry has been released from his pain and can move on, and the relationship between Sam and Lila shows promise.

The writing ,direction, and acting are all first rate.

This film was very much misadvertised. I remember seeing the trailer once or twice, but it was very close to the release date of the movie, so who knows how many people didn't get to see it. I didn't really see it advertised on tv or hear about the actors doing tv spots, etc to promote the film. Who knows what happened there, but due to that, this film flopped.

Not everyone will like it, but I certainly found it to be a great film. I figured out what was really going on eventually while watching this movie, but for a while, my friends and I couldn't figure it out. - which is why I found it to be a smart film.

The acting in the movie is almost perfect. I didn't find anything wrong with the acting and I am usually bothered easily by bad acting.

My favorite thing about the movie is probably the use of Ewan McGregor's character wearing the shorter pants. I found that humorous once I figured out what it was about.

To conclude, this very underrated film is worth a look if you have the time and the money. It's definitely one of the better movies of this year.

I agree with the assessments here - "Stay" was underrated, poorly marketed, mis-targeted (*not* a horror film), etc. Definitely a film you've got to see twice to see how it all fits together. I found myself at the end recalling all the things Ryan Gosling said ("I hear voices") and got really juiced at how it all fit together so perfectly. It's maybe one of the best endings to a movie ever. Quite the sudden and stunning denouement. You gotta love a movie with a denouement...and Naomi Watts.

First of all, the editing and cinematography in this film is masterful. I can't recall a film oozing with this much style: camera tricks, rapid editing, filters- you name it and this film has it in excess. In fact, I'll go as far to type that this is one of the most aesthetically gorgeous films I've watched in quite a while. This film is not all style and no substance, but I will state that the ending was a letdown. Anyone that has seen anything like "Mulholland Drive", "Dead End", or "Jacob's Ladder" will figure out the movie within the first 30 minutes or so. The film works because it has excellent replay value due to the aforementioned editing and cinematography. You'll pick up new things after subsequent viewings and things will start to click. The acting in the film is more than plausible and I think the script is fairly decent except for the predictable ending. I recommend this film to anyone that likes psychological, mindbending films.

"Stay" came and went from theatres around Halloween 05. Seems like the studio didn't know how to market this film and it suffered at the box office. I was fortunate to have seen this movie in the theatres and have been haunted by it since. Now that its out on DVD, I hope it finds the audience it deserves. Buy or Rent it -- just see it. Pay attention to every detail, every word spoken. Watch the backgrounds, the sets, the characters. Its dripping with symbolism but at the same time everything is spelled out right in front of you. Some say this movie is nothing but a trick. Its not -- the answers are right in front of you from the first frame (hint, hint). The reason that "Stay" may not have found it audience is because ostensibly, it appears to be horror film or ghost story and it may be at times. I think that ultimately "Stay" is a tragedy. After seeing the film all the way through, you realize that this is a simple, sad story of a troubled young man.