We've hit a new trend in this day and age, which calls for the creation of a new movie genre, the 'nothing as it seems' genre. This would be a sub-category of the thriller movies, under which would fall films such as 'The Sixth Sense' and 'Vanilla Sky.' The category's prerequisites would be that the film must present a nonsensical premise that leads to a climax that gives a spine-tingling explanation for the prior chaos.
Judging by the previews, 'Stay' should be under this category. The movie begins with troubled Henry Letham (Ryan Gosling) pondering silently on the ground next to a burning car atop the Brooklyn Bridge. Traffic is at a standstill behind him, giving the impression that the world has stopped for him. Then the rugged bad-boy stands up and walks away.
The rest of the movie takes place over the shoulder of psychiatrist Sam Foster (Ewan McGregor), who forges a peculiar closeness with Letham. Letham tells Foster he plans to kill himself in three days and Foster, feeling bizarrely connected to Letham, takes it upon himself to prevent the act.
Letham leaves the details of the car accident ambiguous, which impels Foster to try to uncover the who, what and why of the tragedy. In the process, however, Foster encounters a surreality where the living blur with the dead, the past is susceptible to change, and no one can be sure they are who they think they are.
Watching the movie is admittedly quite stimulating. The transitions between shots combine the end of one scene with the beginning of another, unrelated scene, cleverly symbolizing the theme of contradicting realities merging into one. There are also several scenes in which three people dressed exactly the same can be spotted in the background. Often times, these people, or sometimes just a single person, are carrying small silver briefcases.
Correlating with the theme of melding realities is the repeated suggestion that Letham and Foster have some deeper, spiritual connection. For example, in one scene where the two are conversing, the voices blend together and they both speak the same words at the same time, then respond simultaneously, insinuating that we really don't know which one is which. Also, Foster's girlfriend (Naomi Watts) calls him 'Henry' and then shows no bewilderment upon being exposed to her mistake.
These events, combined with intricately planned camera work, leave the viewer expecting an intense resolution and desperately trying to formulate some sort of explanation encompassing all of the eerie aspects of the movie.
But then, it just sort of ends. No explanation, no conclusion'one extremely clich?? culmination of events and absolutely no closure.
Apparently we're supposed to interpret it for ourselves. The writer must have been one of those philosophical types who believes the truth lies within the individual, or something like that.
But that's a cop out. Anyone can weave together a string of unrelated, sinister occurrences as long as he doesn't have to provide a unique explanation for all of it.
Interpret-it-yourself movies, such as 'Donnie Darko,' can work, as long as some logic exists among the confusion. In those cases, while the conclusion to everything may not be apparent, the comprehensible connection between the premises serves as a guideline. In 'Stay,' there was no logical conclusion.
Audiences' heads will be left spinning'not because 'Stay' forces the audiences to think through a complex ending, but because the incomprehensible chaos delivers a pretty bad headache.
