Plantiana Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

B N With a title like "The Stag" (or even "The Bachelor Weekend"), you get an immediate image of what is sure to come: bawdy male bonding with lots of heavy drinking and silly capering, carousing about town in search of more booze and strippers, all topped off with a cherry of inappropriate jokes at the expense of grooms and brides.But no. There's none of that. Well, not really. It is quite funny but also surprisingly emotional in a male-bonding sort of way. But not like in some misogynistic Hollywoodesque way with men spitting on the ground and getting into a barroom brawl. No. This is about sharing truths and staring life square in the face and manning up. Everyone in the film learns something.It's great.

Irishchatter By looking at all the postive reviews involved here, I was really appalled at this movie. Yes the gorgeous Amy Huberman is in this but to be honest, this is one of her worst films she ever got involved in and the wedding dress they had her to wear in the end wasn't very stunning enough..Story is bleak, not even funny and really cringy. I just dont understand how it got such positive reviews, it just doesn't deserve it!I would love to give this a 0 since it just wasn't a great watch...

Andreas Baumann The Irish comedy "The Stag", released in Germany as "The Bachelor Weekend" and in Romania as "Barbati Misto" is one of the warmest comedies, I've ever seen. It tells a story of modern masculinity, of male friendship and bonding and how we all are able to discover ourselves, when we are "naked", what means, that we have to show each other, who we really are. The script by John Butler and Peter McDonald is well written and the characters are developed on a lovely way. All the actors are playing their roles with a huge enthusiasm, what makes the story really believable and reliable. You can laugh out loud for the entire film and you will be able to appreciate and understand friendship much better after watching this amazing film! I love it!

hediditallrelaxed Marketed as an Irish version of The Hangover, cinema goers expecting to see a gross-out outlandish comedy will be left disappointed. In its place they will find a charming, genuinely touching and not to mention hilarious comedy drama. This is a movie that belongs more in the realism of Barrytown then the fantasy world of Las Vegas.At her wits end with fiancée Fionan's (Hugh O'Conor) obsessing over every detail of their upcoming nuptials (particularly in one fantastic scene with wedding planner Justine Mitchell – who nearly walks off with the film in her brief scene), Ruth (Amy Huberman), enlists the help of his best man Davin (Moriarty himself, Andrew Scott) to take the metro… Politan Fionan away for a stag weekend. He is joined by mild mannered U2 denier Simon (Brian Gleeson), gay couple Kevin and Kevin (Andrew Bennett and Michael Legge) and, against his best efforts, by Ruth's boorish brother, known as The Machine (Moone Boy's Peter McDonald).The set up is nothing original, with everything from The Hangover to last year's Few Best Men mining the pre-wedding blow-out as an excuse for raunchy, far flung mayhem. What sets this film apart is that none of the cast fall into their expected token role. The Machine could quite easily have turned into the movie's equivalent of Stiffler but McDonald (who also co-wrote the script) is in spectacular form, grounding his character with real depth and a realism to any group of friends who all have that 'one' within the group. He never crosses the line to offensive or tasteless and, as a result, the audience is rewarded with a character that resembles an actual person as opposed to a catchphrase spouting bore.The cast are excellent across the board, Brian Gleeson (son of Irish film legend Brendan) shows enough guile and put upon humor to suggest it won't be too long before his name isn't suffixed with his famous father's name and becomes a respected talent in his own right. Andrew Bennett and Michael Legge convey a wonderful chemistry as a couple plagued with all too real and topical problems and thankfully their sexuality is never played for tasteless laughs. Their story arc is beautifully handled and threatens to overshadow the main plot, which sees tensions between Davin and Fionan simmering to a boil due to the best man's feelings towards his friend's fiancée. Scott, fresh from his reappearance in Sherlock, gives a wonderfully nuanced performance, his eyes tinged with sadness while maintaining his loyalty to his best friend. The duality is never conveyed better than during his heartbreaking rendition of the Patrick Kavanagh classic Raglan Road, which hopefully will find its way into the soundtrack. Stuck with what could have been the least interesting role in the movie theater, stand out Hugh O'Conor inhibits Fionan with enough restraint so as to never make the character a whiny cliché, but also stands his ground enough that we never want to just see him cast aside for the more romantic Davin to step in. It is a very tricky balancing act and O'Conor, who has been on the cusp of a break out role for the past few years, absolutely nails it.The film though will ultimately live and die by one measuring stick, is it funny? And on that front the film is a massive success. Foregoing any artificially outrageous set pieces – no tigers or giraffe decapitations here. The film instead relies on the delivery of its talented cast, along with its slick humor and stinging one liners. This is not to say that director John Butler is above moments of crudeness, as he puts his game cast through the ringer during one unforgettable reenactment of the Emperor Penguin huddle. It is a nice commentary on male bonding rituals without ever sacrificing story for laughs. It is the best Irish film for quite some time and seems destined to be spoken about in the same terms as The Snapper or The Commitments. Highly recommended. www.followingthenerd.com