Philosophers have long debated what constitutes reality and whether it's the same experience for one and all. Filmmakers have done the same for decades, usually in the sci-fi realm where such headiness is to be expected and/or welcomed.
Acclaimed director Marc Forster, however, has decided to tell his tale via the dramatic thriller genre with "Stay." The tale of a psychiatrist who tries to get to the bottom of his latest client's suicidal deadline while worrying that his own girlfriend could relapse into the same mindset and/or behavior, this is the sort of film where the answers about what's real and what's not aren't known until the very end.
Not that there aren't clues to lead you to a guess before the end credits roll around. In fact, the film is filled with nothing but clues, red herrings and an interesting exploration of certain aspects of the human psyche. Forster, who works from a script by David Benioff ("Troy," "25th Hour"), uses a bevy of directorial flourishes to showcase all of the above.
Yet, rather than just doing so in a "look at me" style over substance fashion like Tony Scott recently did in "Domino" (and other films), there's both rhyme and reason for the filmmaker's tactics. Most, if not all of them make sense and/or are justified once the final explanation is revealed, and they're certainly more imaginatively crafted (including cool transitions between scenes, characters and more) than in most films.
Unfortunately, there are just too many of them, as if they escaped from the director's bag of tricks and could no longer be controlled. Accordingly, and despite the intentions, the entire thing starts to feel too pretentious and repetitive as we wait and watch for more clues from which to make our guess about what's occurring.
The payoff or twist if you will, isn't of the surprise, knock your socks off variety since we know right away -- from all of the visual and character-based clues -- that something is amiss and reality is not to be trusted. However, viewers who love those types of conclusions -- popularized by M. Night Shyamalan with "The Sixth Sense" and most every film he's done since then -- might be disappointed. That's because the finale will likely only unlace your shoes rather than blow off the stockings, and those fans along with everyone else might lose patience to stick around and finally learn what's what.
For me, this is one of those efforts that I like in concept -- even if it's thematically quite similar to other films that I can't mention since that would give away the ending -- but am frustrated by the way it's executed on the screen.
While I was surprised that the conclusion had somewhat of a surprising emotional tug to it, I wish that the filmmakers spent less time being creative with the visual flourishes and more time with the characters and fleshing out the story. And that's especially true since Forster previously helmed the exceptionally deep "Monster's Ball" and the emotionally heartfelt "Finding Neverland."
Considering how the film is constructed and what it's trying to be, the performers are rather limited in what they can do with their characters. The story is seen through the eyes of the one played by Ewan McGregor ("The Island," the "Star Wars" films) and he's pretty much constrained to playing psychological detective before stumbling into a progressively warping Twilight Zone type world where he experiences déjà vu type moments where scenes he was just in repeat themselves.
He's aware of this, but doesn't seem to question his sanity. That would seem to be a case of character incongruity (since that's his field), and while the ending explains everything, it doesn't help in the moment. Ryan Gosling ("The Notebook," "Murder by Numbers") again plays the troubled character who's tormented from the inside out, while Naomi Watts ("I Heart Huckabees," the "Ring" movies) is decent if underused in a character designed to be a thematic mirror for Gosling's.
Various recognizable performers -- such as Bob Hoskins, Janeane Garofalo and B.D. Wong -- appear in smaller roles that are similarly explained at the end, but don't amount to much in the moment. In the all-important end, that might just be the same conclusion that some or many viewers will come to regarding this offering.
Again, I liked the concept of the story and its theme, as well as how the visuals are used to help characterize what's occurring. I just wish there had been less of them and a bit more exploration of everything else. Not bad, but quite likely to try the patience of viewers who might tire of all the flash, "Stay" rates as just a 4 out of 10.
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