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Stay

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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.

Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins

Genre: Thriller, Theatrical Release

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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Reviews for Stay

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
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A head-scratching thriller...

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
09/06/06
Matthew Leyland
Matthew Leyland
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
03/04/06
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
03/02/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A disaster from beginning to end. If you're going to Stay anywhere, Stay at home.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
03/02/06
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
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

Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts and Ryan Gosling all lower their box office merit with this unbaked psychological thriller about a suicidal man (Gosling) taunting his eccentric psychologist (McGregor) after surviving a horrible car accident.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment 1 Comment
04/19/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

The effect is something indescribably cinematic, as the inner mechanics of the mind's eye are vividly translated onto the big screen. Beautiful, haunting and ultimately transcendent...

Full Review Source: Eye for Film | comment Comment
08/06/07
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
Eye for Film

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | comment Comment
07/14/07
Joe Lozito
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound

Stay wants to be good, creepy fun, but by the middle of the film, I was so uninterested in the plot I became obsessed with McGregor's pants

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment 1 Comment
03/01/07
Lewis Beale
Lewis Beale
Film Journal International
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
12/30/06
Los Angeles Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Ultimately the film delivers such a weak payoff that it makes nearly everything that came before it seem rather pointless.

Full Review Source: Christianity Today | comment Comment
10/11/06
Peter T. Chattaway
Peter T. Chattaway
Christianity Today

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
05/12/06
Jim Lane
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review

So often, I have seen films like this that try to walk the fine line between creativity and confusion. Director Marc Forster manages to walk that line with precision.

Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | comment 1 Comment
04/05/06
Kevin Carr
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures

The technical virtues of the film may outstrip the content, but it's an entertaining film, nonetheless. You might want to stay around for this one.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
03/25/06
John J. Puccio
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com

Pretty to look at, tough to follow, and, ultimately, difficult to swallow, Stay certainly isn't a bad film ... but it sure as heck isn't one you'll be raving about anytime soon.

Full Review Source: DVDTalk.com | comment Comment
03/21/06
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
DVDTalk.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
01/17/06
Sydney Morning Herald
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Revela-se apenas mais uma variação de uma premissa utilizada por vários outros filmes.

Full Review Source: Cinema em Cena | comment 1 Comment
12/29/05
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

...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

A psychological thriller in a category by itself.

Full Review Source: IGN Movies | comment Comment
11/10/05
Todd Gilchrist
Todd Gilchrist
IGN Movies
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
all

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...

See All

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