Directed by:
Marc ForsterScreenplay:
David BenioffCinematography:
Roberto SchaeferCast:
Ewan McGregor, Ryan Gosling, Naomi Watts, Elizabeth Reaser, Bob Hoskins, Kate Burton, Janeane Garofalo, BD Wong, John Tormey, Jessica Hecht, Mark Margolis (more)Plots(1)
A dedicated New York psychiatrist Sam Foster urgently attempts to stop a secretive and unusual young patient he inherited, Henry Lethem, from carrying out a planned suicide on the eve of his 21st birthday. But Sam's investigation of Henry has reality-shattering effects on the psychiatrist. As Sam is drawn deeper into the web of Henry's life--and then into the labyrinth of his subconscious--it puts stress on Sam's relationship with his artist girlfriend and former patient Lila. But soon Sam's own tightly-held grip on the rational world begins to melt away. Faced with increasingly surreal encounters and a Manhattan transformed into a wildly shifting dreamscape, Sam can no longer figure out what is true and what is happening only in his head, nor where he begins and Henry ends. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (10)
Forster plays Lynch and with a gradually escalating plot, interesting visuals (occasionally delicious cuts between locations) and hand in hand with the growing confusion in the viewer's head, he moves towards the climax, the big reveal that clarifies nothing at all and forces many interpretations, namely: a) the twist is so trivial it hurts, b) it's so sophisticated that nobody gets it, c) Forster is just taking the piss. For me it's a), and while Lynch’s movies are exciting in their bizarreness even after repeated viewings, Stay is a one-shot mess. And by the way, Gosling was excellent, Mc Gregor did his standard and Watts is just there for decoration.
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Before you die you get to a world where you can be who you want to be... A visually compelling, disturbing drama where everything you thought was real falls into time loops and evasive replies by the main protagonists. The ending rather unnecessarily removes the irrational charm of the whole mosaic, but even so it’s very tolerable. Excellent McGregor, excellent Gosling.
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Stay is, in my opinion, Forster's best film to date since Stranger Than Fiction. While it's a pretty dense "psycho" in the end, it doesn't have much in common with Lynch, or rather I would say nothing at all. The directorial inventiveness is decent in Forster's work, but compared to, say, Aronofsky's brilliant Requiem for a Dream, it falls quite a bit short in this regard. :) Still, I’m giving about 90% for the quality of the form and for the rather good script. The cast is also very likable.
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A picture that immediately captures you with its great visuals and then with its powerful story. It gradually turns into a good example of a Lynch-style movie where you have no idea where you stand, who is who, etc. The excellent cast just goes to enhance the overall impression. But unlike movies by David Lynch, Stay has a clear message... And that it where its downfall lies. The message luckily isn’t served up absolutely word for word, but it doesn’t leave much room for the viewer to make up his own mind. I can shake the feeling that, if it weren’t for the final scene, this movie could have been a beautiful experience overflowing with “dreamy" magic, despite being incomprehensible. This way it remains just a showcase for Forster and, in a way, a trick on the viewer, because the cheapest explanation is always correct. In the end, this is just an over-combined variation on Jacob’s Ladder.
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The film starts as A, then goes to B, then turns out to be C, in the next twist it acts as D, and in the finale it is actually E, which is somehow hidden behind it and not explicitly stated. Mindfuck games with the viewer, imagination and creativity, all supported by top performances from Ewan McGregor and Ryan Gosling. It's its own thing, it's novel and it's... special. On the other hand, I have to agree with other users that, although this is one of those "WTF movies", I'm not completely impressed and I don't think I'll want to ponder the film for weeks to come. Either way, it's quality craftsmanship and for me a bit of an unconventional Marc Forster film that will keep your head spinning throughout until the very end.
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