Stay (2005)

Striking images abound in the twisty, surreal thriller Stay: Walruses rubbing up against the glass in an aquarium; a corridor painted neon green; entire crowds composed of twins and triplets; a piano being lifted several stories in the air. The plot is impossible to encapsulate: A psychiatrist named Sam (Ewan McGregor, Trainspotting) takes on a colleague's patient, Henry (Ryan Gosling, The Notebook), who announces his intention to kill himself. As Sam pursues Henry, hoping to save him, the world around them begins to fracture and distort--until the movie's conclusion, which may induce viewers to argue loudly about whether or not it makes sense. But Stay's weakness isn't whether it coheres, but its terrible dialogue. David Lynch movies (a clear influence) work in part because the dialogue is usually simple, even banal, and doesn't compete with the rich chaos of the visual images and narrative turns. Stay's dialogue, full of portents, interferes with an intriguingly corrupt (in the sense that digital information corrupts) storyline and eerily dislocated visuals; try watching it with the sound off. Also featuring Naomi Watts (Mulholland Drive), with brief appearances by Janeane Garofalo (The Minus Man), Bob Hoskins (Mona Lisa), and other familiar faces. --Bret Fetzer Amazon.com

Misleading Reviews

I've been reading several reviews on this movie and i've come to the conclusion that perhaps a lot of people have misinterpreted some things about it. For one thing I think it would help watching the special features in the DVD extras. In a short documentary about people who have near life experiences helped me understand more the reason for this movie. It isn't just your plain old, cheesy twilight zone short. Firstly the visual aspects depicted in Stay (in my opinion) are not just for the sake of showing us how great the director is for his little tricks with the camera. I find it to be what Henry Letham is imagining during his near death experience. The scene changes are meshed together because its all his thoughts going through his head, like a movie. During near death experience. He's picturing his life through the eyes of those around him in those few moments while he is lying in the street.

I hope I was able to explain myself...this is my first review. And I am by no means a film critic. But I would just like to say that you should give this movie a chance... Regardless of the bad reviews.

I love watching this movie over and over again to try and figure out what each person in the show has to do with Henry. But as a final thought, in this day you have to admit, ya know, at least someone has actually come up with an original idea. I'm so sick of all the movies coming out. Remake after remake. July 23, 2008

Purchased this on the basis of other reviews

Let me tell you, I will be in the minority on this film. First of all,it's a mess. You assemble fine actors and a reasonable story. Then constrain them with horrible lines and bad writing.All of the charactors have had some distrubing incident. (like that will make them more interesting)I guess it was to give them a common thread.I watched hoping this film would get better,but by the mid-way point I didn't care.The ending if you call it that, was the most disappointing.If I was suppose to be entertained I wasn't. Don't waste your money renting this grooner! June 20, 2008

Three days

I saw this when it was in theaters and I was, to say the least, confused. I did like it-I loved the whole idea of it, the story itself, and the acting was wonderful (Ryan Gosling never disappoints); but I was still confused. My boyfriend at the time, who saw it with me, got it for me on dvd when it came out and I'll admit I didn't watch it again until a few days ago. This is a movie you need to watch many times for you to start to really "understand it" and for me, it's one that I WANT to understand. There were many things that I noticed the second time around that I missed when I saw it in the theater and helped to put everything together for me. It's like a puzzle, trying to put all the little things that may seem insignificant at first, together into the "whole" of the movie.
I'm not going to go into specifics because who knows, something I think is a huge part of the story may not be for someone else. You need to come to your own conclusions about the whole damn thing.
I'll just say that for those who haven't seen it-if you like movies that make you think about them well after they're over, watch this movie. June 13, 2008

Awesome

It arrived in a timely manner and its perfect. It worked wonderfully and I'd totally buy from them again. June 10, 2008

Some very good acting here

Where memory and reality mix in the mind of a psychiatrist
and his patient... we get a ghost effect.
Some people want to save what is already gone.
In places this is like replaying the movie in a tape player.
At times it jumps ahead; the effect is one of telling the story
of a lonely young artist.
The abstract art of a movie and the lives of the people involved.
It is an art movie.... April 27, 2008

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