Omicidi occasionali

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.

Things look pretty good for groom to be John Stockwell, where his mates hold him a surprise stag party. His guests are an assortment of characters, some oldies types, that have you questioning, how exactly are these guys related, without never really knowing much about 'em. They are soon wishing it was just a stag party instead of a shag party, when one of two hookers, the prettier, younger one, ends up taking a really bad fall, while being tossed around on a blanket, where she falls face flat on the floor, instantly dead. This is what happens when things get a little too crazy, where alcohol and drugs can really make you do stupid s..t. Too, prior to her death, she had politely asked them to stop, to no avail, and now our men have a situation, where this party has really died. The other hooker, rock singer, Taylor Dane, who in some close ups, horribly resembles a girl I went to acting class with, is kept hostage by this group, who we appallingly discover, with the exclusion of one, are all out to save their own skin. They don't give two hoots about the dead girl, including one promising actor, who doesn't want to throw his career down the toilet on account of a whore. They have plans for the surviving sister too. The rest of the film, impressively intense, at times, deals with the shared conflict between the men, and how they all must agree to do away with the other girl, only we have a greater conflict. Kevin Dillon is the only one not on board. One line of dialogue he uses to describe his friends, and this gutless act, I totally agree with, but really what would you do, if faced with this situation? Would you tell the truth, and risk jail? What if you had everything in front of you, and everything to lose? What if you were that promising actor? Stag, silently raises these questions, and what you would really do in this predicament, where these kind of (before and after) circumstances, could happen tomorrow. That's what I got from this movie, of being any of those guys. They were all in a inescapable dilemma, fate and karma paying one of em, with a heart attack. After all, only earlier was he bonking the deceased. Andrew Mccarthy plays sleaze great here, as a real piece of s..t drug dealer, in probably one of his best performances, the less caring of them all. It was great to see him get his just desserts. Not helping the situation or the men's paranoia, we have some little interruptions by a lonely and annoying old neighbor, guess you can't guess who? Stag eventuates with a realistic, if disillusioned ending, I totally bought, where sometimes, truth can pay off. Good on ya Kev. Stag is one of those better b movies, and when you got a jazzy Tom Jones's number to open it up, you know you're in for something good. A mainstream movie copy followed, Very Bad Things.

What I think is most interesting about the movie "Stag" is that it shares a plot and action line almost indentically with a very bad movie entitled "Very Bad Things". Even more of note is the fact that while "Stag" does not have the power of an well known ensemble, it more than makes up for it in sheer entertainment value. With the star power of Cameron Diaz and Christian Slater, it was expected that "Very Bad Things" would be a very funny movie. On the other hand I believe "Stag" is pleasantly surprising in the fact that it is actually quite funny in a dark twisted sort of way without blowing its budget on big name actors that were not able to pull off the comedic timing. Instead virtual no names (aside from Stiller) were utilized to produce a shadowly comic tale.

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.