bassman
18-Dec-2006, 05:19 PM
The film "Stay" has been around for several years now, but while grilling a nice rack of ribs on my back porch the other night, I decided I would check it out.
The film centers around Henry Letham(Ryan Gosling), a 20-year-old man that is determined to commit suicide at midnight on his 21st birthday, which is three days from the start of the film. He sees a couselor named Sam Foster(Ewen McGregor) who wants to help the young man and stop his planned suicide on the coming Saturday night. Foster is in a relationship with Lila Culpepper(Naomi Watts), who had attempted suicide at one point but was saved by her therapist boyfriend.
The more Henry Letham sees Sam Foster, Sam seems to lose more and more grip on reality. Henry begins to predict strange happens, cause freak occurences and at certain points seem as though he is some form of higher power. It's a race for Foster and Culpepper to figure out Letham's strange ways, hunt him down, and save the boys life. But as the film goes on, Sam Foster slips more and more into the insanity that Letham has been parading.
The film is a huge trail of bread crumbs that lead the audience closer and closer to a conclusion that they believe they have figured out, yet they have all their clues taken back and basically have to start all over again.
On top of the great plot, the film sports some of the most innovative cinematography that I have ever seen, an eerie score, and a massive amount of suspense that draws the viewer in without the use of loud noises or frightening scenes. You may walk away from the film saying "what a total mind-f*ck.....what the hell happened", but instead of pushing you away like some films, it will only draw you back for another viewing.(I had to go buy the DVD immediately :) )
I searched around the net and it seems to have an average rating on IMDB and a pretty low rating on Rotten Tomatos and I can understand why. If you don't like "thinking films", this may not be a movie for you. But it comes highly suggested in my book. A+ :thumbsup:
For those that have seen it, what did you think and how did you interperet the conclusion?(spoiler tags, please)
And a neat little piece of trivia, look for a certain character from "Day" that "didn't have any f*ckin booze left" near the end of "Stay".
"An elegant suicide is the ultimate work of art." - Henry Letham
The film centers around Henry Letham(Ryan Gosling), a 20-year-old man that is determined to commit suicide at midnight on his 21st birthday, which is three days from the start of the film. He sees a couselor named Sam Foster(Ewen McGregor) who wants to help the young man and stop his planned suicide on the coming Saturday night. Foster is in a relationship with Lila Culpepper(Naomi Watts), who had attempted suicide at one point but was saved by her therapist boyfriend.
The more Henry Letham sees Sam Foster, Sam seems to lose more and more grip on reality. Henry begins to predict strange happens, cause freak occurences and at certain points seem as though he is some form of higher power. It's a race for Foster and Culpepper to figure out Letham's strange ways, hunt him down, and save the boys life. But as the film goes on, Sam Foster slips more and more into the insanity that Letham has been parading.
The film is a huge trail of bread crumbs that lead the audience closer and closer to a conclusion that they believe they have figured out, yet they have all their clues taken back and basically have to start all over again.
On top of the great plot, the film sports some of the most innovative cinematography that I have ever seen, an eerie score, and a massive amount of suspense that draws the viewer in without the use of loud noises or frightening scenes. You may walk away from the film saying "what a total mind-f*ck.....what the hell happened", but instead of pushing you away like some films, it will only draw you back for another viewing.(I had to go buy the DVD immediately :) )
I searched around the net and it seems to have an average rating on IMDB and a pretty low rating on Rotten Tomatos and I can understand why. If you don't like "thinking films", this may not be a movie for you. But it comes highly suggested in my book. A+ :thumbsup:
For those that have seen it, what did you think and how did you interperet the conclusion?(spoiler tags, please)
And a neat little piece of trivia, look for a certain character from "Day" that "didn't have any f*ckin booze left" near the end of "Stay".
"An elegant suicide is the ultimate work of art." - Henry Letham