One viewing of the trailer for “Stay” and you’ll come away with goose-bumps, a fluttering heart, and a zest to watch the whole movie. On the surface, the 2005 suspense thriller, written by Game of Thrones creator David Benioff and directed by Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball, World War Z) looks like a masterpiece. With its great cast and trippy style, “Stay” should have been a perfect October-esque thriller in the mold of “Jacob’s Ladder” but unfortunately turns out to be more of a confusing mishmash of questions and shoulder shrugs engulfed in some great effects.
The film does succeed in a few areas, specifically the performances of its high octane cast. In addition, the cinematography is a thing of sheer beauty. The cuts and fades wrap around each scene in a way that makes the movie easy to watch and an exhilarating rush from one frame to the next.
Dr. Sam Foster (Ewan McGregor) is a typical psychiatrist; a verbose young man who comes across as easy to talk to, and someone who will search his soul to help others find the root causes of their various problems. Foster lives in New York with his girlfriend Lila (Naomi Watts) an art teacher and historian.
Filling in for the regular doctor, Foster meets his new patient; peculiar college student Henry Letham (Ryan Gosling). Gosling brings the character of Letham off the screen as an ornery fellow, burdened with inexplicable and intense baggage, and harboring a host of secrets. Henry has a bizarre knack for making predictions, and claims that he hears voices in his head – so many that he can no longer distinguish the difference between reality and fiction. When Henry tells Foster of his plans – to commit suicide Saturday at midnight – Foster is given three days to uncover the truth and save Henry.
“Stay” is a dark film with excellent makings in terms of scope and effects, and off the charts acting from the cast. In addition to the aforementioned stars, the great Bob Hoskins, the beautiful Elizabeth Reaser, and the comical Janeane Garofalo make appearances. Gosling is simply a great actor, and one who is quickly becoming a must see when he’s in a movie. McGregor is solid and Watts is alluring as artwork and artist aficionado Lila.
Marc Forster flexes his directorial muscles and puts together a visual leviathan, but the story gets a little too clever for its own good, which is a shame because it spoils the talents of the stellar cast and the overall feel of the film. “Stay” is like a perfect Lamborghini glistening in the summer sun but crippled with an empty gas tank. Its visual style is like an obscure actual art exhibit (fitting since it ties in perfectly with the character of Lila) in that it showcases ambiguity and awe, but also confusion and fright.
My original intentions were to include “Stay” in the upcoming 31 Days of Halloween as a non-gory gripping thriller, but its disappointment places it in the catacombs of just another movie. “Stay” does have a creep-factor to it, with Henry’s off the cuff predictions, Foster’s journey to the outskirts of sanity, and the constant thought that something awry is taking place – but it’s just not enough to make the film memorable.
“Stay” isn’t horrible, it just doesn’t come close to the excitement of the trailer.
– by Matt Christopher
