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Stay (2005)

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Reviews Counted:117

Fresh:32

Rotten:85

Average Rating:4.6/10

Consensus: A muddled brain-teaser, Stay has a solid cast and innovative visuals but little beneath the surface.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language and some disturbing images

Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins

Genre: Thriller, Theatrical Release

Theatrical Release:Oct 21, 2005 Wide

Box Office: $3,349,167

Synopsis: In the space between desire and fear, between reality and illusion, between life and death lies a whole other alternate world that is brought to life in the mind-bending thriller STAY. From the... In the space between desire and fear, between reality and illusion, between life and death lies a whole other alternate world that is brought to life in the mind-bending thriller STAY. From the acclaimed director of the award-winning Monster's Ball and Finding Neverland, Marc Forster, comes this moving and mesmerizing double story that plunges beneath the surface of ordinary experience to take a man on a spiraling descent through the mysteries of identity, dreams and the very fabric of existence. STAY appears at face value to be the suspenseful story of dedicated New York psychiatrist Sam Foster (EWAN McGREGOR) and his urgent attempt to stop a secretive and unusual young patient he inherited, Henry Lethem (RYAN GOSLING), from carrying out a planned suicide on the eve of his 21st birthday. But behind the primary tale of STAY lies a far more unsettling and surreal mystery: that of the reality-shattering effect that investigating Henry starts to have on Sam. As Sam is drawn deeper into the web of Henry's life -- and then into the labyrinth of his subconscious -- at first it simply puts stress on Sam's relationship with his artist girlfriend and former patient Lila (NAOMI WATTS). 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. So just who is Henry Lethem and why is he fracturing Sam's reality so profoundly? As clues and suspense simultaneously build to the story's climax on the Brooklyn Bridge, both Sam -- and the audience ­ must grapple with thought-provoking questions about perception, awareness, forgiveness and final moments of redemption. For it soon becomes clear that what is happening to Sam and Henry is taking place not in this world but in the twilight state between living and dying . . . a place where no one can stay for long. [More]

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts, Ryan Gosling, Kate Burton

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts, Ryan Gosling, Kate Burton, Bob Hoskins, Elizabeth Reaser, Janeane Garofalo, B.D. Wong

Director: Marc Forster

Director: Marc Forster
Producer: Bill Carraro, Guymon Casady, Arnon Milchan, Tom Lassally, Eric Kopeloff
Composer: Asche & Spencer
Studio: 20th Century Fox

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Release:

Mar 28, 2006

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Stay

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1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
10/29/05
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
12/30/06
Los Angeles Daily News
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
01/17/06
Sydney Morning Herald
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
10/29/05
AV Club
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
10/29/05
Boston Phoenix
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
03/02/06
Time Out
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
03/04/06
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]

Takes us down a rabbit hole and loses us there.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
10/21/05
E! Online

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
Empire Magazine

You the viewer have the dubious privilege of deciphering what shreds of internal logic the story holds, an exercise that quickly loses its mystique given the sensory overload of imagery and the flatness of the characters.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
10/21/05
Oregonian

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Killer Movie Reviews | comment Comment
10/29/05
Andrea Chase
Andrea Chase
Killer Movie Reviews

S lot of talent gets expended in Stay. (I'm not including whoever dressed McGregor.) Too bad the movie they made, while effective in short spurts, is almost a complete waste of time.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
10/21/05
Andrew O'Hehir
Andrew O'Hehir
Salon.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Forster's symbolism goes from clever to exasperating to, finally, sort of klutzily endearing — the work of a gifted art student who can't resist piling on the glitter.

Full Review Source: The Stranger (Seattle, WA) | comment Comment
10/20/05
Andrew Wright
Andrew Wright
The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

...there is nothing interesting about the payoff; it seems like little more than a convenient excuse for a director to have fun, throwing a bunch of wild stuff up on the screen.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles CityBeat | comment Comment
11/23/05
Andy Klein
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat

The visual effects, especially those used to enhance the metaphysical elements, are impressive, but the story lacks that certain something.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
10/20/05
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

How could anyone think that this movie is totally ridiculous?

Full Review Source: Denton Record Chronicle (TX) | comment 1 Comment
10/21/05
Boo Allen
Boo Allen
Denton Record Chronicle (TX)

There are no surprises to get excited about, and Forster's stylistic choices tend to push the film into tedium

Full Review Source: FilmJerk.com | comment Comment
10/20/05
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
FilmJerk.com

If you do not like Stay, it will not be because of the quality of the acting or the physicality of the setting they work in. Instead, it will be that you cannot or will not understand what Forster & company are on about in their surreal drama.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
10/21/05
Bruce Kirkland
Bruce Kirkland
Jam! Movies

It's hard to imagine a film more perversely obtuse than this dark, grim exercise in cinematic sleight of hand.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
10/21/05
Bruce Westbrook
Bruce Westbrook
Houston Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
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Latest News for Stay

June 28, 2007: Ryan Gosling Signs On to Peter Jackson's "Lovely Bones"
The 27-year-old actor will be playing the husband to 36-year-old Rachel Weisz. They'll be playing the parents of a (dead) 14-year-old girl in the Peter Jackson pic. More...

June 20, 2007: The Next "Bond" Director Has Been Chosen
And it's certainly nobody you'd expect! More...

April 17, 2006: Casino Royale Enlists a "Vice" Villain
IGN FilmForce notes a 007-related Variety report, and it's news of the casting ... variety: Up & coming actor Isaach de Bankole, seen recently in flicks like Stay and The... More...

March 28, 2006: DVD Tuesday: Planet of the Ape
Movie geeks love Tuesdays, and here's why: It's DVD Day! With each new Tuesday comes the promise of varying DVD goodness, so I thought it might be fun to do a reminder-piece... More...

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