STAY

[Moviefan1234]

http://media.movieweb.com/galleries/2331/posters/poster1.jpg

Plot: In this psychological thriller, a distraught young man announces to his psychiatrist that he plans to commit suicide in three days. The psychiatrist's desperate attempts to help his new patient, lead him through the city on an incredible, nightmarish trip to the place between life and death. From the director of FINDING NEVERLAND and MONSTER'S BALL.

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts, Ryan Gosling, Janeane Garofalo, Bob Hoskins

MPAA Rating: R (for language and some disturbing images)

Release Date: October 21, 2005


STAY looks like a film that will either be terrific or very poor, I'm really hoping it's the former.

[MadsenOMC]

The script is terrible and it has been delayed for a long time. Forster shot this before Finding Neverland. David Poland has seen it and he said it's awful. If you see it, lower your expectations.

[Edie0027]

I didn't have high expectations anyway. Think I may save it for a rental...

[Moviefan1234]

Originally posted by MadsenOMC
The script is terrible and it has been delayed for a long time. Forster shot this before Finding Neverland. David Poland has seen it and he said it's awful. If you see it, lower your expectations.

That's a real shame. I really love McGregor, Watts, and Gosling.

[Moviefan02000]

A little big, don't you think? ;) It looks okay, I'll check it out.

[CyclicNightmare]

Originally posted by MadsenOMC
The script is terrible and it has been delayed for a long time. Forster shot this before Finding Neverland. David Poland has seen it and he said it's awful. If you see it, lower your expectations.
Goddammit. I was looking forward to this too. Thanks for the info. Maybe I'll wait for DVD.

[Tuukka]

I actually liked the script until the piss-poor ending.

The reviews are pretty terrible, so I'm not gonna see it.

It's pretty funny that the script was sold for an exceptionally high prize after a bidding contest. And yet the project was doomed right from the start simply because the script didn't work.

[chinton]

same here liked the script til a lame ending that ruins e verything

[Duke Nukem]

Just saw the movie and was very impressed with it. It was another mindfucker at a time of a lot of mindfucking movies, but this one was very stylishly made (but not without substance) and filled with a lot of symbolism. I didn't get the twist at first, but now that I do, it does make sense at the end, and it's not one of those cheating twists either, at least I don't think so. I'm also puzzled at all this negative reaction from so many. Would you, Madsen, like to elaborate on why you felt it followed a terrible script? I'm curious to hear why.

[chinton]

I thought it was good but the twist has been done to death before. Im just really tired of that kind of twist.

[Tuukka]

Originally posted by chinton
I thought it was good but the twist has been done to death before. Im just really tired of that kind of twist.


*** MAJOR SPOILERS ***


Ditto. After reading the script I was like "I've already seen that twist 10 times before". In fact a solid little horror movie called Dead End did EXACTLY this twist a couple of years ago. With car accident and all.

The problem is that the entire movie is built on the twist. And since the twist sucks, the entire story falls apart because of it.

Besides, I have to disagree with Duke on the twist not being a "cheat". This kind of twist is as big of a cheat as it can get. It's essentially a "he woke up and realized it was all a dream" kind of ending. And the thing about these kinds of endings it that the writer can write ANYTHING in the script. There is no need to be logical, because it's all just a dream. you can paint yourself in the corner, and get away with it.

So it's kind of disappointing because as an audience member you are looking for clues to explain the mystery. And in the end you are told that most of the clues were meaningless, because hey, it was all just a dream. And dreams don't need to make a sense.

It's a cop-out ending, and a cheat.

[Duke Nukem]

WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!!








Sure, it one of those "it was just a dream" endings, but not exactly. The bulk of movie was not so much a dream, but Ryan's Gosling's subconscience during his few moments of remaining life in between the car accident and dying. Obviously, the "dream" starts right at the moment of the accident in the beginning when he gets up and supposedly survives. And the people he saw in reality when they
coming to his rescue, he imagined those people in his "dream," taking up an alternate reality and sort of placing Ewan McGregor in his shoes (leaving McGregor as "main character" even though he's really not).

I didn't think the "it was all a dream" thing was completely useless here, because of that, and also because of the symbolism we constantly see throughout the dream. There are hints all over the place that something obviously isn't right, and I loved not knowing what it was and thinking it through the entire time, foreshadowings to things to happen (McGregor losing his ring, Bob Hoskin's seeing his son), and much of the other odd folks who somehow come into play, and yet turn out to be other people Gosling saw come to his rescue. I think the execution of the "it was just a dream" aspect was done much better here.












SPOILERS OVER!!!

[Lazy Boy]

*SPOILERS*




One shot that intrigued me to no end was the various twins and triplets on different levels of the building in which Gosling and MacGregor are walking. Was that Henry's mind going a little haywire, seeing single people multiplied? There were several start/stop sequences where action and dialogue would be repeated again and again, probably a blockage in his dying brain, perhaps?


*END SPOILERS*

[chinton]

Keep in mind I havent seen the movie and I dont plan to becuase I have little money (saving for XBox 360 and gas is fucking expensive) and I have to really want to see the movie but from what you describe the same probolems I ahd with the script are still in the movie. I agreee with what Tukka said the movie kind of paints itself in the corner with so many weird things happening that everything rests on the twist clearing things up.


Spoiulers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





Keep in mind the version of the script I read was the very first draft but I had always kind of hoped the script would end ambigously specfically at the only truly memorably scene where Gosling on the bridge with McCregor is about to kill himself there and the stars literally start falling from the sky as if he is waking up and "the dream" started falling apart. To me I thought that was an interesting concept. Weve all seen the its a dream before but the idea of doing the POV from a dream aspect was really cool. I mean if the McCregor character is just part of Gosling's dream along with everybody else Gosling shooting himself would be ending McCregors existence. Now thats interesting.

Yet the ending takes away that interesting part for me. By having everybody turn out to be real people he inserted in his dream the interesting concept that was gaining before completely lost its steam in what I thought was a lame twist. obviously you disagree with me. Oh well to each his own.

[ilovemovies]

I didn't think the ending was a cheat primarily because it was obvious from the begining what the twist is. That's not a bad thing either. Atleast for me. The only part of the twist I was trying to figure out is how Ewan McGregor's character is connected with Goslings. It was intriguing from start to finish. Great visuals and the cast is great.




SPOILERS!





The only part that doesn't make sense is when Naomi Watts calls McGregor's character Henry. What was that about? And it's completely dropped from the movie afterwards.

[chinton]

I didnt think it was a cheat. I jus t thought it was lame and tired

[Lemmywinks]

SPOLIERS****


I understood that it was all a figment of Henry's dying mind, but there were just too many things I did not understand, and I've been thinking about it, and If you guys could answer some of my questions, I would appreicate it.

I get that the people who were around him, watching him die were all part of his "dream", but what about the workers pulling the piano into the buliding? Were they at the accident scene as well?

Why in his dream did Henry's girlfriend say she only met him a couple times?

What really was the signifigance of the dream? Was it just to make his dying easier, or was he just delusional from his head trauma? Is there really anyway to tell?

Also, could parts of the "dream" be what Henry thought the future would have been if he had survived?

Oh and I believe that the Triplets, or twins of people were just to fill in space because there werent enough people in Henry's mind to fill certain buildings/streets.