Stay

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts, Ryan Gosling, Elizabeth Reaser, Bob Hoskins, Janeane Garofalo
Directed by: Marc Forster
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Thriller
2005

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A psychiatrist (Ewan McGregor) has his world turned upside down when a student (Ryan Gosling) threatens to kill himself in three days. Now, as he tries to figure out how to stop him, he begins to witness strange events which cause him to question reality as he knows it.

Review:

Tim: For most of the movie, I did genuinely enjoy what I was watching. The movie is interesting, makes you wonder what exactly you are watching, and keeps you in suspense. However, there are a few big flaws. First off, the longer the movie goes on the worse it appears. The movie slowly begins to unravel, and the movie starts to feel boring. The film loses its focus, and it drags on longer than it needed to. By the end of the film, we learn that the big conclusion, everything we have been building up to, is recycled from a very similar film (came out in 2004 and stars Courteney Cox- I don't want to spoil the ending if you haven't seen either film). This is the most disappointing part of the entire film.

Ewan McGregor does a generally good job. I liked him in the role, and he interacts well with the rest of the cast. Ryan Gosling gives a complicated, torturous performance. He gives a restrained, pained performance as he conveys the depressing realization that he no longer wants to live. I do wish he had shown a little more emotion, but he's not bad. Naomi Watts was not terrible, but I didn't love her in the role. Bob Hoskins has too few scenes, but he is excellent in them. I actually really liked Janeane Garofalo in her role, which rarely happens.

Stay probably should have been significantly better than it is. It might entertain for a while, but there is an underlying current of weaknesses which completely derail the film. The ending would have been good had it been original. As is, it is just disappointing.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5.5



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