Director:
Marc Forster

Cast:
Ewan McGregor
Naomi Watts
Ryan Gosling

Official URL:

http://www.staythemovie.com

Country: USA
Rating: R
Studio Name: Twentieth Century Fox
Running Time: 1 hr 25 mins
Release Date: October 21, 2005

Critics's Rating:
(2 Reels out of 4) 

October 21, 2005

By Veronica Mixon

The entire time I was watching the murky, suspenseful elements in Stay unfold, I was also very distracted by the clothes that Ewan McGregor was wearing. He’s a cool-headed shrink with a lovely artist girlfriend (Naomi Watts), who takes over the case of a suicidal art student, Henry Latham played by Ryan Gosling. His handsomeness fades into the background by his nerdy outfits of bow ties, tweedy jackets and high-water pants which expose several inches of skin capped by short white socks and shoes. I puzzled over this outfit and began to think that his character was really dead. The entire premise of Stay is questionable.

Sam Foster (McGregor) patiently tries to help the sad young man. The filmmaker, Marc Forster, who also directed Monster’s Ball, has each man morph into the other as the scenes evolve. Gosling, who has played so many tearful, hurt young men, does a beautiful job and we do begin to hope that Sam will be able to help him. But, things just don’t add up. Sam notices that he’s seeing things – the client’s dead mother and a piano being hoisted into one of the apartments into his building. Also, he’s worried about his Lili (Watts) whose growing frustration with her work may lead her back to another suicide attempt. Furthermore, Sam’s fellow psychiatrists are either blind (Bob Hoskins) or having her own nervous breakdown (played powerfully by Janeane Garofalo). In fact, this entire world is filled with emotionally troubled people who seem to be tapped into a netherworld between life and death. Suddenly, it is Sam who is struggling to understand what is going on. Unfortunately, I found the payoff disappointing because I didn’t understand why Forster went to such elaborate extremes.

Nevertheless, the performances are strong and poignant. McGregor, who made his career on films like Trainspotting, is trying to shed his Star Wars mantle. He’s a decent actor and his performance is heartfelt. But, Stay is confusing and disappointing.

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