Stag

I was up late the other night and this was on HBO. I only started to watch it because of John Henson, who I liked watching on "Talk Soup". Boy, was this a stretch for him!

"Stag"'s premise is simple enough, but the writing and cinematography were complex. As I was watching, I was reminded of another engrossing film... "Suicide Kings". Both take place in one location (mostly), and both involve a group of guys dealing with their recent actions, and a hostage. Both also have a known comedic actor (in this case Henson) doing a dramatic turn. And VERY well, I might add.

Unlike most movies, this one doesn't quite turn out like you think it will, not completely. For mostly B Actors, I was very impressed with the quality of the work. I'm also surprised more impressive talents didn't sign on after Jerry Stiller got attached to the movie! But nonetheless... if you liked "Suicide Kings" you should like "Stag" as well.

I thought the movie was very professionally executed, although I didn't care for all the violence. Enjoyed some of the performances, including Taylor Dayne & Lawrence Leritz as the cop....I recognized him from TV shows.

This film was great. If you've ever been to a bachelor party or heard stories about bachelor parties, this movie is for you. I'm a married woman and have heard scores of stag party anecdotes, both funny and lewd. This movie shows what can happen to perfectly normal, decent, middle to upper-middle class guys when things go terribly wrong and spiral out of control. As the movie progressed I just kept thinking: "I KNOW these guys, this could happen to people I KNOW." Basically, it shows how bad things happen to average, normal people and how we all have a dark side that can come out when pushed to the wall. Watch this movie, with an honest, open mind, and see if there's someone you know up on screen. By the way, is it just me or is the new movie Very Bad Things a rip-off of this one? I've only seen the trailers, but it looks like the same movie. We'll see...

First off, this movie was terrible. Now I have to address another issue.

People do not understand how long it takes to get a movie made. VERY BAD THINGS was released about a year after STAG. ONE YEAR. And people are saying that VBT stole the idea from STAG. WRONG!!! Peter Berg wrote VBT in his trailer during the filming of COPLAND. How could he know or care to know about the making of a lame direct-to-video movie? He wouldn't. VBT is far superior to this slow, plodding, poorly acted, poorly directed, poorly etc. movie. I can't even remember if there was a score in this movie. It doesn't matter because it was brutal. I want to know how semi-famous people like Mario Van Peebles and Ben Gazzara got roped into this trash heap of unoriginality.

1/2* (out of 10)

I like both of these films! They're probably a 'genre', although I don't know any other "stag party disaster" films.

I have to say, I also saw a little bit of 'Shallow Grave', especially in 'Very Bad Things' where it was necessary to dissect and dispose of all those inconvenient bodies.

Hello 'Goodfellas'.

Certainly not for everyone...but you know who you are.

Take time to watch both. I don't think you'll be disappointed with either of them.

Kevin McCarthy and Christian Slater are the bad guys. Good choice and they do a good job.