>>REVIEW
STAY
STARRING Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts and Ryan Gosling
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY Marc Forster
Opens Friday, October 21
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The literal interpretation of Stay isn’t nearly as interesting as the metaphorical one, but neither is compelling enough to keep intelligent viewers from checking out early.
The film opens with a single-vehicle accident on the Brooklyn Bridge and literally shows us the subsequent struggle of the driver at fault (Ryan Gosling) to come to terms with his past, aided by a disturbed psychiatrist (Ewan McGregor). The figurative, and much more curious, interpretation suggests that the car accident represents a schism in the psyche of one of these two main characters and that the remainder of the film is a visualization of the battle for dominance that occurs between various different personalities within that damaged psyche.
From the outset, Stay is rife with enough stylish symbolism to support the latter interpretation, but sadly, its clinical style quickly becomes overly schematic. About one-third of the way through, it’s evident that we’ve been given a puzzle for which all the pieces fit just so, and this is nowhere nearly as puzzling as if there were a few oddly shaped pieces provoking us to question our assumptions about either the nature of reality or what it means to be psychologically healthy.
These are the questions that the film attempts to grapple with, but, while the characters pose those questions, both literally and figuratively, Stay never quite manages to get us to do the same. The film is pretty to look at and its stylistic audacity may leave some viewers gasping aloud. But others will merely be gasping at its heavy-handed symbolism, no matter what the pedigree of director Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball) and writer David Benioff (25th Hour).
Moreover, the filmmakers make little use of their talented leads – including the underused Naomi Watts, who plays McGregor’s love interest – although the actors do their best to fit within the framework of Stay’s rigid schema.
It’s Oscar bait, without a doubt, which may explain why the film plays it safe when it comes to exploring its more provocative metaphors. If you’re looking for a serious mind-bender, stay away. |
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