Stay (2005)

A psychiatrist attempts to prevent one of his patients from committing suicide while trying to maintain his own grip on reality.

Director:

Marc Forster

Writer:

David Benioff

Stars:

Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts, Ryan Gosling

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ewan McGregor	...	Dr. Sam Foster
Ryan Gosling	...	Henry Letham
Kate Burton	...	Mrs. Letham
Naomi Watts	...	Lila Culpepper
Elizabeth Reaser	...	Athena
Bob Hoskins	...	Dr. Leon Patterson
Janeane Garofalo	...	Dr. Beth Levy
BD Wong	...	Dr. Ren
John Tormey	...	Custodian / Piano Mover #1
José Ramón Rosario	...	Cabbie / Piano Mover #2 (as José Ramon Rosario)
Becky Ann Baker	...	Paramedic #1 / Butch Cook
Lisa Kron	...	Paramedic #2
Gregory Mitchell	...	Dance Instructor
John Dominici	...	Boy / Young Henry
Jessica Hecht	...	Boy's Mother

Storyline

A thought-provoking and haunting exploration of how reality and dream-states may combine to form complex interactions. The line between the imagination and reality blurs when an accomplished Psychiatrist takes on a patient that appears to be suicidal.

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Plot Keywords:

hallucination | dying | art student | car accident | nonlinear timeline | 

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Taglines:

Between the worlds of the living and the dead there is a place you're not supposed to stay.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some disturbing images

Did You Know?

Trivia

Letham is an anagram of the word "Hamlet" which is referred to numerous times throughout the film.

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Goofs

During the chess game, the move "king's rook to e3" was announced. In fact the rook was moved to e1. The next move, "knight to c3, check," didn't put the king in check and Sam didn't move the knight there.

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Quotes

Lila Culpepper: Henry, forgetting something?
[Sam turns around towards Lila looking confused]
Lila Culpepper: What's the matter?
Sam Foster: You just called me Henry.
Lila Culpepper: Baby, I think I know your name by now
Sam Foster: Yeah, but you called me Henry.
Lila Culpepper: Sam, I know who you are. I promise.

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Alternate Versions

The UK cinema version was censored to achieve a 15 rating. A line of dialogue describing a suicide technique was altered. The original line was restored in the 2006 18-rated DVD.

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Connections

Featured in Writing the Music for 'Stay' (2006)

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Soundtracks

Aleph 2
Written by R. Parkes
Performed by Photek
Courtesy of Photek Records Ltd.

User Reviews

A Mixed Pot of Stew

STAY is a strange bird of a movie, one that you must be rested and in the mood for to watch, and one that asks that you forget the usual linear storyline and stay alert every minute. Directed by Marc Forster (Monster Ball, Finding Neverland, and the upcoming The Kite Runner) and based on a story and screenplay by David Benioff (Troy, The 25th Hour, and the upcoming The Kite Runner!), STAY is more a mind-bending visual excursion that explores some dark psychological questions dealing with life, death, suicide, occult, and a mélange of all of these.

The opening of the film is a twisted visual experience that has to do with a car crashing on a bridge, fire, and a body - all given during the opening credits. We then meet psychiatrist Dr. Sam Foster (Ewan McGregor) as he encounters a college student patient Henry Lethem (Ryan Gosling) whom he is seeing for his colleague, the emotionally exhausted Dr. Beth Levy (Janeane Garofalo). Hesitant to work with a 'substitute psychiatrist' Henry eventually tells Sam he is planning to commit suicide that Saturday at midnight, a re-enactment of his painter idol's absurd life. Sam's artist girlfriend Lila (Naomi Watts) was herself a suicide attempt rescued by Sam and offers her help in dealing with Sam's patient. Sam also gleans advice from his mentor, the blind Dr Patterson (Bob Hoskins) and after numerous attempts to contact his associate Beth for information, Sam strikes out on his own in an attempt to understand Henry before he destroys himself. He looks up Henry's mother (Kate Burton) whom Henry says is dead, discovers when Henry meets Dr Patterson that Henry claims Patterson is his father and is also dead. Ultimately Sam engages the services of a mental institution run by Dr Ren (BD Wong) and gains the promise that the institution will put a hold on Henry so that he will be unable to commit suicide.

In the midst of this race Sam's world begins to crumble, people don't make sense, stories clash, and Sam tumbles around in a state closely resembling madness until the final frames when the entire situation of the film is made clear. Nothing is as it appears when dealing with the thread that separates life and death. The script is clumsy, the camera work is distractingly of kilter, little gimmicks are used to the extreme, and the tiny roles of supporting characters hardly merit the gifted actors such as Hoskins, Burton, and Garofalo. Ryan Gosling is again tossed into a role that is starchy and unidimensional and despite his fine work his character remains aloof. McGregor and Watts do the best they can with the script but end up becoming tropes wandering in from other similar stories.

So why give the film 8/10 score? Because despite all the defects it does engage the mind and forces the viewer to set aside the general principles of understanding and just release the mind to a crazy ride. That is healthy film making and deserves attention. Grady Harp

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 October 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Stay

Filming Locations:

Roosevelt Island, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,188,199, 23 October 2005

Gross USA:

$3,626,883

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$8,483,797

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Regency Productions, New Regency Productions, Epsilon Motion Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1