The Stag (2013)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

I checked the reviews before wasting a couple of hours on this and it seemed that there were a lot of 10's and a lots score closer to 0's, Its always hard to know who is correct in this situation. Believe me the scores closer to 0's are spot on.I'm guessing you know enough background about the film from the title and trailers.. 6 lads on a hill walking stag weekend... right?Billed as a comedy but this is as far from comedy as you could get. Its completely devoid of any humour... They try so hard to be original and they really aren't. Predictable and truth be told pretty boring.Yes they put the characters as the new style D4 Irish rather than the stereotyped drinkers and fighters which are so often portrayed in films but they were equally bad and offensive.The only exception to the group is the one character called "The Machine" who is called "The Machine" with the emphasis on "the" in every other line in the script...oh dear god please stop... it couldn't have been more annoying. Even his sister phones him and says "Hi, The Machine"... seriously so annoying. I don't know what angle they were trying with the gay couple...were they trying to shock us on film 30 years too late? Were they trying to shock us that Ireland has a gay community??... this couple in a relationship of 6 years in every scene stuck to each other like love sick teenagers... *gasp a man hugging another man... the outrage... I can only assume they did that so that you could differentiate from the other 3 male characters (not including "The Machine" because you really wouldn't know who was supposed to be gay.Apologies to the gay community if you are all really loved up after 6 years together...maybe I'm just an old cynicAnyway... it was all very obvious what was going to happen... losing their clothes, chased by the dog and the farmer....absolute pants. To conclude with an overly sentimental sickly best man speech and bizarre poorly mimed cover version of a U2 song after a nonsensical out of place rallying speech for the people of Ireland... Oh one last thing... accents!!???!!! Peter McDonald who is a pretty fine actor what was going on with the accent?.. Born in Dublin yet it jumped from the North, to the midlands to an American accent...and the rest sounded EnglishDo yourself a favour and don't watch this

That's all I can say to describe this film. Now I can appreciate it not being another wannabe Hangover movie but come on. How can this be described as a comedy? Yes there are a few funny grunt moments here and there but the whole thing just comes off as annoying. By the way The Machine? How many times does a character have to call someone by their nickname beginning with The? The overuse of this nickname is mind-numbing, yes that's his nickname but why not just say "hey, machine" after mentioning him in the beginning? You never hear the characters in Old School refer to Hank as Hank The Tank every single time they mention him or speak to him in the movie. Why? Because it get's irritating. Now I understand that past reviewers have mentioned the deep message in the film, and while I appreciate it, it just doesn't flow well with the promotion of this movie. The title is called The Stag, set in Ireland, with the movie poster depicting what you might think would be a hilarious stag party set in Ireland. But no. Instead it's about a web designer, a gay couple, two best friends who are in love with the same woman and a guy who calls himself The Machine (which is a really bad nickname to give someone, the writers could've been a little more creative in this area) running around in the woods like...well as Red Forman would say, "a bunch of dumba****.The characters and the general idea of a stag party in Ireland is a great premise for a film. But the story is just not what I was expecting. Why not have it start in the city and then with the crazy antics with the so called The Machine all of a sudden end up in the outskirts of the city and then get lost in the woods. Simple outline just write a raunchy creative story. And I'm sorry but the whole Ruth breaking up with Davin and then getting with his best friend just seems shady on her part for not telling Fionan about it. Just makes me wonder if she can be all that faithful to Fionan after their marriage. If it was some random guy then whatever but it was the guy's best friend. Have some decency.Well that's pretty much it, as I said before the message is a great one and that's the only reason I'm giving it a 5 out 10. Without it it would just be a really stale more dramatic than comedic story about a enlightening journey through the woods.

I sat down in the mood for a nice little light hearted comedy, as the previous reviews on IMDb had promised. A look at the nine and ten out of ten scores and an overall of 6.5 gave me the idea that if not brilliant, would have some laughs and be a decent film. How wrong I was. This is the sort of film that has adopted the 'all men are useless, clueless, fools, but in touch with their feminine sides' school of film making. The main characters are clunky, inept caricatures that one could have been forgiven for thinking that they had originally been written as pre adolescent girls, not grown men. Their ineptitude was the set up for the "comedy", which was just not funny and seemed very contrived. It all just served to irritate after a very short while and continued to do so as the film progressed. The line up consisted of some rather quite good actors and i'm not sure if it was the awful script, bed set ups, bad direction, miscasting or a combination of all the above, but non of their previously seen talent could have cut through this drivel with a chainsaw. I should think most of them will be embarrassed to have this movie on their C.V's. I think all in all, the high rating given to this film must be from interested parties skewing the figures and will in time even out when more people have faced the ordeal of sitting through this lame excuse for a comedy. i would avoid this one, go paint the fence or something, it'll be more productive.

What may seem like a small fun, light-hearted comedy on the surface, turns out to be an incredibly fun, emotionally moving story which addresses the topic of masculinity in 2014.It's simple, it's really simple even – it's just a group of guys going on a Stag, and they unfortunately have to share it with the bride's crazy brother, known only as "The Machine" – so what makes it so special? It's an incredibly well executed, heart-warming tale in which every character is unique and lovable, and each actor delivers a fantastic performance in their respective roles. Andrew Scott of BBC's Sherlock is probably the main attraction here, but even his brilliant performance is easily upstaged by Hugh O'Conor and Peter McDonald who completely dissolve into their roles.Peter McDonald and John Butler's script brings to life these characters in a very fun-loving way. There's nothing outrageous or false about the comedic moments, they're genuine and at times heart-warming, which is a welcome change from what we've come to expect from comedy films. But beyond a few gags there's so much honesty in the storytelling and how the events unfold that you can't help but be drawn to it and immerse yourself in the characters' situation, to the point where you feel like you're a guest at their wedding after the Stag. With so many human, authentic moments, there is something about this tale that will undoubtedly appeal to you – and then there's the comedic aspect of the film, which is above-all, the icing on the cake."The Stag" brings forth a very important message about how we have a tendency to approach modern masculinity in a traditional fashion, and the movie acts as a learning experience for both the audience and the characters, resulting in the most heart-warming Irish comedy in the last 5 years.Follow me on twitter: @StuartComerford