Starring: Ewan McGregor, Ryan Gosling, Naomi Watts, Kate Burton, Elizabeth Reaser, Bob Hoskins, Janeane Garofalo, BD Wong, Sterling K. Brown, Jessica Hecht, Amy Sedaris, Mark Margolis
Review: When a psychiatrist (Ewan McGregor) takes on a new patient (Ryan Gosling) the line between real and surreal begin to blur. Can this dedicated doctor keep this troubled young man from committing suicide while trying to maintain his own grip on reality - Stay tuned and find out!
Stay is a hard movie for me to review. On one hand it has an intriguing premise, a great cast, and an arresting visual and editing style that will draw you into the story. On the other hand it's seems quite pretentious and maybe even a little to pleased with how clever it thinks it is.
This movie is filled with so many subtle visual clues to what's going on that I admire its creativity and attention to detail, but I'm not sure if it's done for the sake of adding some mystery and style to telling a unique story or were the writer and director just patting themselves on the back for 1h 39min saying, "Oh, aren't we so clever."
It's hard to go into much detail with this one without spoiling the movie. It was advertised as a thriller, but it's more of a psychological character drama with some 'Twilight Zone' thrown in to keep you guessing. The cast is really first-rate. Our three leads - McGregor, Gosling, and Watts - are all at the top of their game. And it was great to see the late-great Bob Hoskins in a supporting role.
I spent some of the runtime wondering if Stay was too smart for me or was I too smart for it. It was definitely a movie that kept my attention enough to wonder what was happening and what was going to happen, but I'm not sure that I was necessarily entertained by that.
Stay certainly is a unique movie that will interest some, but most likely annoy, confuse, and sadly, bore audience members. It's a shame. Come for the great acting, visual style, and unique storytelling, but Stay to learn what does it all mean. An unsure recommendation, I think? Maybe.