Search - Stay on DVD

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 12/17/2023...

Really strange plotline that was all over the grid. A must if you are fans of Ewan McGregor, Ryan Gosling and Naomi Watts.

Rose H. from LOUISVILLE, KY
Reviewed on 4/23/2012...

Loved this movie when I first saw it. Unfortunately, it one of the films that once you know the ending, it loses it mystique which is it's main selling point. Bought this so that I could lend it out to friends and spread the word.

3 of 4 member(s) found this review helpful.

Interesting but confusing film... Targeted at the wrong audi

dooby | 04/18/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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."

Misadvertised and Misunderstood

R. Weeda | USA | 01/28/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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.



"

A movie that requires a lot of thought

Erin | 03/21/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."