Stay (2005)

This movie focuses on the attempts of a psychiatrist to prevent one of his patients from committing suicide while trying to maintain his own grip on reality. Stay packs some great perfomances from it's stellar cast especially Ryan Gosling and Ewan McGregor but unfortunately the film drags alot and as interesting the story might have been the slow pacing hurts the movie and the whole "mind thriller" that tries to play with the mind of it's viewers even tho it makes sense it's just poor storytelling and i'm sorry for that. Great perfomances, stellar cast but a slow burn of a movie. (5/10)

Stay is a psychological drama directed by Marc Foster that stars Ryan Gosling as Henry Letham, Ewan McGregor as Dr. Sam Foster, Naomi Watts as Lila Culpepper and Bob Hoskins as Dr. Leon Patterson. This film is a film that explores the art of filmmaking and is incredibly underrated. I undoubtedly loved this film the first time I saw it even though I was incredibly confused at first but as soon as I started to dive deeper into this film the more I started to respect the artistic choices it made in terms of the way it told the story, the characters and the directing also. At first this film may seem terrible and very pretentious and tries too hard but this film has so much to offer and doesn't baby feed you and tells you what to think like most films with a psychological edge or twist. We dive into the mind of a depressed, suicidal artist who seems to be very isolated and driven to serve some sort of purpose he has set for himself. He reaches for people, ideas and fantasies that he could not manage to overcome in reality, he found a father figure in a dream that did not exist and found something that he could not find in reality.This film got a lot of bad reviews on its initial 2005 release which confused me as this film warrants more than at least a 6 out of 10. This film is for those who have an open mind and are willing to go into this film expecting nothing and wanting to experience something new and engaging. This film was really interesting the first time I viewed it and I found Ryan Gosling's performance mesmerizing to say the least. Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts in this film at first seem flat and don't really seem to be trying much in the film when you first see it not really aware of what is happening, but when you start to put things together you suddenly realize this films unique, smart, captivating and daring approach to filmmaking and storytelling through the visual medium. This film is hard to talk about without spoiling it because of its initial incoherent and muddled up way of telling the story of a young adult who is going through a lot of grief over something he has done to people he cares about, he is contemplating suicide and strange events happen all through this film that create a surreal experience for the viewer especially towards the very end when the story slowly starts to unravel. This story all seems to be taking place in his mind as characters appear and disappear at random times, the transitions seem almost dream like and feel out of place and the people within this dream like state he is in do not act like normal people in a normal universe as towards the end Ryan Gosling's character (Henry Letham) cures his dead father of blindness, sounds incredibly confusing but it all makes sense as it is not really happening. Ryan Gosling's character feels grief over killing his girlfriend and parents in a car crash and goes through his death contemplating what he has done in this dream world where he confronts Ewan McGregor's character. You can feel our main characters suffering and you can understand why he is so heartbroken over what he did, you can tell he deeply regrets the mistake he has made and now wants to find a way to forgive himself within this dream like state by conjuring up these people who we later on find out do not really exist but only exist within his mind.When we are shown his last moments after the crash, we start to realize everything as Naomi Watts's character is mistaken for Ryan Gosling's girlfriend in the film as he is confused and is unaware of the situation which is why in the dream there are flashes of Naomi and his girlfriend merging, same goes for Ewan McGregor's character as since Ryan Gosling's character created him, he loses his sanity, believing he is Henry (Ryan Gosling), this lack of identity is prevalent all through the film and starts to make sense. The ending answers a lot of questions as it all flows quite nicely and wraps things up in a concise and logical manner that leaves the audience satisfied but curious as to what it all meant. This film makes you think and question the characters and the world in which the story is set in as you think what we know as reality and what we see as truth, lack of identity and the feeling of fear and confusion. Towards the end of the film he shoots himself which wakes him up from his dream and we see he is injured from the car crash that we continuously see flashes of in his dream and find there is a crowd gathered around him and every character we met along the way are all in this crowd, including Ewan McGregor's and Naomi Watts' characters as well which explains why there are various times where we see flashes of car crashes, moments where characters randomly say things that don't make logical sense and the story isn't told in the right order but everything starts to make sense towards the end. The 'plot' changes when you get to the end so there is no point telling you the initial 'plot' as this film is very smart and merges two stories very well. This film is masterpiece and many people overlooked it and seems to be getting the recognition it deserves. If you want a film that makes you think and want to think deeper about characters and the story then watch this film, It is worth your while.

A Love it or Hate it Film. Unabashedly Pretentious and Ultra-Arty, it is more of an Experience than most Movies, but some Folks will Feel Cheated, Let Down, Frustrated, and Absolutely Angry with the Ending.One of the Reasons for a Negative Reaction to the Ending is that the Movie Requires an Enormous Amount of Energy to get Through it All. It's not a Casual Watch. The Brilliant Images and Editing Demand Attention and as the Eye is being Massaged the Intellect is being Manipulated with Double, Triple, or Multiple Meanings.It's Obvious from the Start that all is Not Right with this World We are Watching. Everyone is Confused, Befuddled, and Struggle to make Sense of what is Happening. As is the Audience.Ewan McGregor, Ryan Gosling, and Naomi Watts give it the Ol' College Try as this Film-School Experiment Unfolds with Odd Angles, Spirals, and the many Flourishes that Director Marc Forster pulls from His Bag of Tricks.It's "The Twilight Zone" on Steroids and Critics and Audiences were not Thrilled, Impressed, or Entertained with the Film's Demands. The Movie is Undeniably a Fun Watch but the Fun Stops with the Eye-Candy as this Psychological Thriller is not Pleasant with what it does to the Sub-Conscious.Overall, Worth a Watch for Film as Art and the Glorious way that the Filmmakers Play with the Medium. But if You Expect Resolutions and a Conclusive Meaning to all of the Intricacies, it will Not be Forthcoming.

If you spend the time to watch this movie from beginning to end, hoping for a brilliant resolution to an extremely layered plot, you will be disappointed. I found this movie completely vapid, after promising to be brilliant. The production designers made a gorgeous work of art with all kinds of nods & winks included, a busy background of suspicious distractions to draw our attention away from the fact that nothing makes sense. Even if this movie is some kind of study in overlaps between waking & dream states, it never delivers anything. Everything is beautiful, from Ewan McGregor to Naomi Watts to Ryan Gosling to Janeane Garafolo to NYC to the architectural chess set. It's all vacuumed & coiffed & shined up & cheated with special effects to make it all the more glossy & glimmery. But what promises to be a never-before-conceived-of psychological thriller ends up being a pile of unresolved detritus. Don't get your hopes up. Submerge yourself in the shiny pretty sets & clothes & pictures. That's all there is here.