Sale nuit

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 rented this and 'Very Bad Things' in the same night. They both sucked. This sucked slightly less. You know a movie is in trouble when John "Skunkboy" Henson is a member of the cast. I guess we should be grateful Jon Stewart wasn't in it though, anh? Or Bill Maher, Dennis Miller, Al Franken, George Carlin, Richard Belzer or one of the many gawdawful, P.C. hacks who are passing themselves off for comedians these days. But I digress, this film sucks. Just a dumb story where guys at a bachelor party accidentally kill a stripper and instead of doing the obvious thing and calling the cops, they bitch and moan and complain about how the heck they are gonna figure a way out of this mess. Kevin Dillon makes an appearance in this movie and he's just as bad a she usually is. The only bright point is Andrew McCarthy having the guts to play a slimy, psycho bad guy with even badder teeth. You know he's the bad guy cos he wears all black. But skip this movie. Stay home and pick lint out of your bellybutton instead. You'll find it more entertaining.

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...

From watching the start of the movie, i though that Stag looked quite promising. The introduction of each character, although minimalist, was quite effective... there would be a freeze frame on each character, and some text describing their occupation and past.

Unfortunately the movie takes it time to get to the crucial plot twist that this movie is based on. There's a lot of uninteresting dialog and a scene of gratuitous sex. "When's this movie going to start!" i was left thinking for a good while.

So eventually after the death of the stripper, the protagonists of the movie try to figure out what to do next. But... this is the problem... they spend the entire movie trying to figure out what to do next. And even worse, they still haven't figured out what to do even after the end credits come up. But obviously you don't expect this to happen when you first see this movie, so it's the only thing keeping you watch it.

At the end of the movie i was left feeling very unsatisfied. There could've been such an interesting story made from the idea it presents to you at the start. (Well maybe not the *start*... it does drag on quite a bit ;-) I was expecting some great little plot twists or an intelligent story, but no, the outcome in my opinion is unbelievable and unfinished.

Second rate story about a stag party that goes array when a woman is accidentally killed. Because of the status of some of the male party members, they need to cover their tracks and protect themselves. Poor material delivered by a mostly unsatisfying cast.