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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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41 - 60 (sorted by date)
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This is the kind of flop that makes even the popcorn taste lousy.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
10/26/05
Rex Reed
Rex Reed
New York Observer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

What Forster’s missing is an emotional connection — identification with something primal beneath the surface disorientation.

Full Review Source: Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia) | comment Comment
10/25/05
Mark Palermo
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

There’s a lot of talent at work here from the cast to the screenwriter to the director and the visuals, but it’s all so arbitrary and cheap and the payoff is so, so lame.

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
10/24/05
Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Audience members probably fluttered their eyes in disbelief at this convoluted tale.

Full Review Source: Houston Community Newspapers | comment Comment
10/24/05
Gary Brown
Gary Brown
Houston Community Newspapers

More of an abstract than trick, Stay is a satisfying examination.

Full Review Source: Film Snobs | comment Comment
10/23/05
Jimmy O
Jimmy O
Film Snobs

It's rare that movies are made with such devotion to detail, even if the details are more frivolous than significant.

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
10/22/05
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com

A more appropriate title for Stay would have been Go.

Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com | comment Comment
10/22/05
Dustin Putman
Dustin Putman
DustinPutman.com

Its sole purpose appears to be to confuse, to muddle and to blow our minds.

Full Review Source: San Antonio Express-News | comment Comment
10/22/05
Larry Ratliff
Larry Ratliff
San Antonio Express-News

Very stylish, nice to look at, but a good cast and good director, doesn’t always mean it’s a good movie. It doesn’t draw you in and make you want to stay through the end.

Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment Comment
10/22/05
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com

Was the conclusion unforeseen? Definitely. Did it make me think about or learn something about the human condition? Not really.

Full Review Source: Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas) | comment Comment
10/21/05
Mark Collette
Mark Collette
Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas)

Films like this don’t allow you to anticipate what’s coming, deciding to instead sneak into your body and astound you with the widest range of emotions

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
10/21/05
Chris Cabin
Chris Cabin
Filmcritic.com

A richly detailed, fascinating, and insightful puzzle that should prompt many to go back for a second look

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
10/21/05
Pamela Troy
Pamela Troy
culturevulture.net

A richly detailed, fascinating, and insightful puzzle that should prompt many to go back for a second look

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
10/21/05
Pamela Troy
Pamela Troy
culturevulture.net

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

It's all very deep, but in a tricked-up, art-directed sort of way.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
10/21/05
Steven Rea
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer

The movie is so carefully made and well-acted, it's never really unwatchable and Gosling has been playing pallid, tremulous special-case guys so long he could do it napping.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Daily News | comment Comment
10/21/05
Gary Thompson
Gary Thompson
Philadelphia Daily News

Stay is crowded with layers and symbols, probably too many for one movie, and it ultimately wears out its welcome. But its images are compelling, even as its story fades away.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
10/21/05
Moira MacDonald
Moira MacDonald
Seattle Times

A pretty package that's empty on the inside.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
10/21/05
Neva Chonin
Neva Chonin
San Francisco Chronicle

Forster's disjointed cuts and camera angles fail to spice things up as intended. Instead, he seems to be killing time until the film's trick ending.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
10/21/05
Carla Meyer
Carla Meyer
Sacramento Bee

Some people find this twisty and twisted psychological thriller arty and pretentious. I find it arty and provocative.

Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment Comment
10/21/05
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
41 - 60 (sorted by date)
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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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