P Y R O

"STAY" is a reality-bending thriller about a psychologist whose suicidal client makes bizarre predictions that to the psychologist’s mounting terror, begin to come true. The shrink must race against time to save everything he loves before it disappears.

The movie also stars Naomi Watts, Ryan Gosling, and Janeane Garofalo.

As posted on the news thread:

Screening review of Stay (spoiler free)
Last night I attended the very first screening of Stay, director Marc Forster’s (Monster’s Ball, J. M. Barrie’s Neverland) latest effort starring Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts, and Ryan Gosling. We were told that it was a rough cut and that all of the special effects were not finished and that some of the music was borrowed.

Let me say right away that someone had told me the ending a long time ago, back when this was supposed to be a David Fincher film, so I had a completely different take on it then the other seven people I saw it with. Therefor I’m not going to give too many details away as I don’t want to spoil it for anyone.

The story revolves around Psychiatrist Sam Foster (Ewan McGregor) who is asked to treat a young art student named Henry (Ryan Gosling) by his colleague Beth (Janeane Garofalo). Henry tells Sam that he plans on killing himself in three days. Sam lives with his girlfriend Lila (Naomi Watts), a former patient who tried to kill herself.

I thought this was going to be similar to the Sixth Sense going in, but it was nothing like that. Talking about it afterwards some of the comparisons that were Donnie Darko, Mulholland Dr, Memento and I thought visually it reminded me of Natural Born Killers. But it was like none of those really, it was unlike anything I’ve seen before. It starts out strange and just gets more bizarre as the film goes on, so that you never know what is going on until the end, and even then you are not quite sure you’ve got it all figured out. It was certainly interesting to discuss it afterwards, everyone seemed to pick up something different from the many clues that were shown. But that was the problem, most people are not going to go with a large group, so they might be left confused. I hate when studios dumb down a film and spoon-feed the plot to me, but I’m afraid that if they expect to release this as a mainstream film they will have to edit this so that it is a little more comprehensible. But the pacing was great, the suspense was high and maintained all the way through to the end.

The acting. Ewan seemed oddly out of place at the beginning of the film. I thought it might be his American accent, which is fine but I’m just not used to hearing him sound like that. But I quickly realized why he seemed odd. His character was the only normal thing in the film. His Sam is a regular guy stuck in a reality twisting existence. Ewan does an excellent job of conveying Sam’s increasing panic as he races to against time to save Henry’s life. Ryan Gosling had the supporting role of Henry, a very troubled man, and it’s a role that seemed tailor made for Ryan who has made a name for himself playing broken men in films like The Believer and The United States of Leland. Henry is both eerie and heartbreakingly tragic. Ryan has a great screen presence, and his scenes with Ewan were some of the best in the film.

Naomi Watts had a fairly small role as Sam’s girlfriend, and she was okay but nothing really stood out about her, and in fact she annoyed me so bad in one scene where she kept shoveling food in her mouth while talking that I wanted to slap her. Janeane Garofalo is only featured in one scene, but what a scene! I’m a long time Bob Hoskins fan and it was neat to see him in this, he’s always good.

In a nutshell, it was a very unique, visually fascinating film that needs some editing work. If it was released the way it is now, I couldn’t see it doing very well.

S.A.S.H.A.

Thanks for the picture! Looks cool.

Sasha

- cris -

Yeah I love that picture. He looks awesome!

I can't wait to see the movie, it's an independent production, right? I think i heard that somewhere.

I hope I can get to see it in theatres anyway, I think it'll be possible, because Naomi and Ewan are in it

Lazy

Yay, we have a Stay thread I'm looking forward to see this movie. Any idea when the release date is?

LilMouse

I heard it was suppose to be released in the fall but I don't think there's a specific date yet.

Ewan's eyes look gorgeous in that pic.

Ewan Junkie

I am so excited about this movie! Not only is my fav actor (Ewan, duh) in it, but I just saw The Notebook, and Ryan Gosling is amazing! I think their on screen chemistry is going to be great. I wish they had a release date somewhere.

LilMouse

I like Ryan too. The Notebook was a sweet movie. I'm also excited about this cause it takes place in NYC. Too bad Ewan didn't take the ferry over to where I live I would've met him.

S.A.S.H.A.

Some people have already seen this movie in special screenings twice with additional editing. No fair!!

Sasha

LilMouse

How do people get to go to advanced screenings?


From Here

My second advanced test screening of Stay
I was lucky enough last night to see a reedited version of Stay, directed by Marc Forster and starring Ewan McGregor, Ryan Gosling, and Naomi Watts. I saw the first test screening a month ago.

I wasn't sure I even liked the film the first time I saw it. It came across as a very bizarre art house film. It was way too complicated, and it didn't make a whole lot of sense to me, although I had a good time discussing it with my friends.

I'm much happier with the second version I saw. It is a much more mainstream psychological drama than the original cut, and it wasn't dumbed down, something I thought they would do to make it work. It was fascinating to see a work in progress and how a few simple changes in the edit can effect the total out come of a film.

I had a major problem with Naomi's character in the first cut, and they fixed that by reediting one scene and adding another shot. It made all the difference. Instead of thinking why is she in this picture, she becomes an important character to the plot.


It is still an original piece of work, but a much more cohesive film and something that I would recommend seeing.

Lazy

That's great news

Any word on the release date yet?

LilMouse

I've been hearing November, but I have no idea if that's accurate or not.

S.A.S.H.A.

The only release date listed at imdb.com is for Italy, March 2005.

Sasha

LilMouse

so that means it's def. going to come out in the US before March 2005. Cause most movies come to the US first.

S.A.S.H.A.

Sasha

LilMouse

yummy..he's in a suit. I think he looks so good in Stay. But he looks good in all his movies.

I can't wait to see this. I hope I'm not disappointed by it since I have high expectations.