STAY is an indescribable film of stylized pre-conceptions with a sweet cast and nowhere to go. The core details involve Henry Lethem (Ryan Gosling) proclaiming date and time of his suicide. He tells his stand-in psychiatrist Sam Foster (Ewan McGregor) who goes ballistic trying to stop him but also loosing his grip on reality at the same time, or so we think…or not…or maybe.

STAY is one of those “artsy” films that makes one pissed off when viewed because with the millions spent on such drivel, starving children in Africa could eat instead of releasing it on DVD for thousands of people to ignore. In other words, it’s a complete waste of everyone’s time and money and should be burned in hell. Not only did the film not make any sense whatsoever, but it did not make any statements or moral reflections of society. What the hell is this movie about and why was it made? If anyone has had the unfortunate task of seeing this already and knows, please email me! The performances from McGregor and Gosling are great but what do you expect from a big paycheck? At first I thought this was a movie about suicide, then zombies, then ghosts, then dual identities, then split personalities, then parallel universes. In the end, we’ll never know and it was a “completely and utterly” waste of time.

In a perfect world, STAY could have been life changing. I really wanted it to be awesome. I mean McGregor and Ryan Gosling putting out their all! A movie that supposedly tackles real issues. Shoot, they could have almost done THE SIXTH SENSE thing and I might have dug it. There are some mind blowing transitions in this flick too, but all is for nothing because this movie just doesn’t know what to do. I think the director knows how to frame things in interesting ways, set the mood of a scene, etc but either just had a sh*tty script or was on some kind of mind enhancing drug that elevated him on another plane of incoherent thinking. I’m pissed and you would be too if you saw this film. So please, don’t.

Video >> 2.35:1 | 1.33:1 > The DVD holds both the Full and Widescreen transfers in a flipper style. Unlike the film, the transfer is impeccable. The film emotes a kind of hypnotic, crazy state and the colors and details come through crystal clear. It’s almost depressing really.

Audio >> Dolby Digital 5.1 > The audio is real subtle but surrounds you most of the time. With some great moody tracks like THE ANIMATRIX theme you’ll start to slip in and out of reality. Spanish and French surround tracks are here as well.

Scene-Specific Commentary by Director, Cast and Crew >> The handful of scenes with commentary are decent with Gosling enjoying things more than he should. Forster still doesn’t give up what the hell the movie is about though.

Departing Visions Featurette >> 7 min > A group of old timers gather together and talk about their “near death” experiences in front of a digital camera. Not only do I not believe these people but their stories aren’t cool or original. I miss Kiefer from FLATLINERS, “Today is a good day to die!”

The Music of Stay >> 8 min > Here you get to see a brief on some guys messing around with instruments to get weird noises. Sounds like my friend’s basement.

Lastly, we have the film’s deceptive Trailer which really sold me on wanting to check this flick out. Don’t you hate those?

To re-iterate my point, STAY was a film I wanted to see but now dread that I saw it. It should have been good but ended up really pissing me off. Some might say that I don’t get the film’s point and that I should just Valium my way through it. Hell no! Feed those damn kids in Africa. If you are interested in topics of death, I suggest the kick ass film FLATLINERS.

Final Diagnosis >> Avoid like the plague