Stay

I continuously fell asleep while watching this movie. The actors performances are superb (on the other hand Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor are a guarantee of success) but the viewer is supposed all the time to figure out what's happening. It's an experimental film putting the audience to the test all the time, a puzzle much more then a thriller motion picture. The plot (a shrink trying to prevent his patient from committing suicide) is not standard but not even unconventional, the setting, as well as the special effects, make the situations cryptic and weird. The problem is that many times things need to be deciphered.

Ultimately it's a richly textured, multi-faceted look at the relationship between guilt and love, death and life. Suicidal themes run amuck, so, as you can imagine, there are many dark, intense scenes between talented actors. And the performances really are great, as is the mind-bending cinematography. But its way overwritten...the truly brilliant "interesting plot device" mingles but never bonds with the characters or dialogue, so everything falls flat. It's not rewarding, because insignificant elements overshadow details crucial to experiencing the intended impact of the film. If you want to see an astonishingly filmed, well acted movie, here it is, have fun...But Stay breaks the first commandment of film-making because it takes itself more seriously than its subject. At the end of the day, the message the filmmakers seem to communicate is, "see what we did!" instead of "see what we mean."

It's hard to comment on this film without including a spoiler, but I feel it is necessary to try because of all of the unwarranted bad reviews this film is receiving. If you go into it expecting to see a rendition of The 6th Sense, you might be disappointed. If you go into it expecting to see a logical plot with a chronological story behind it and an honest portrayal of developed characters, you will be disappointed and very confused. However, if you go see this film with an open mind and simply EXPERIENCE what it has to offer, you will be rewarded greatly at the end - assuming, of course, that you understand what you have just seen, at least to some degree. For the best experience, pay attention to the little details, but don't try to figure anything out until the end. See it with someone so that you can discuss it afterward. It's that good. This movie is visually appealing and artistically constructed - pleasing to both the eye AND to the mind.

A quite famous song aside, this movie is quite wicked to say the least. It really needs your full concentration. You need to be there for the whole thing. You can't just watch this while doing something else. Although some might say it's the beginning and end that really matter (no pun intended) - if you miss what happens in between, you are missing out on the whole tale! The thing the director tried to tell you - to spin you right round with (I know another song, I thought while in Rome ..). The actors involved are superb to say the least which makes me wonder how I never saw this before. It totally escaped me until the other day. I struggled with it too - but it was well worth it to say the least. I did have to check online if I was right with what I was thinking, even if I reckon it is quite obvious ... to a certain extent. Really a movie that messes with you and you may understand or empathize ... well hopefully you do! Cheap tricks and all included.