Looking to excite a male audience the movie Stag comes to DVD with a creative idea, disguise it as an R rated film. The film flounders all over the place and when the real surprise of the plot finally arrives, it loses its grip in the finale. Even though there’s a good measure of laughter the film would have been better served if it actually was predictable and with a real R rating.
The adult targeted film centers on Ken (Donald Faison) a master of mischief at stag parties for his friends and office co-workers. He has been the initiator of the most outlandish tricks on the intended grooms over the years even causing early divorces due to his pranks. His routine involves getting the guy completely smashed then setting up a practical joke that few have escaped from the emotional scars.
Well Ken is about to get married and has been worried sick that he may end up with the grand daddy of hazes at his Stag party. At least 20 of his closest friends, all of who were pranked by Ken have been invited to a party. Setting up the event is his best friend Carl (Pat Thornton) who gives the guys the plan that includes a stripper named Candy (Leah Renee) and assigning Luke (Jon Dore) who has been having trouble with his marital sex life to pick her up. Luke finally gets Candy to the party and a lot of the plan has not materialized making the night very dull. When Ken starts to complain about his terrible stag night a new spin is instituted.
The film gets kind of weird with not enough excitement to make it an enjoyable watch. Writer and director Brett Heard gets his film going with a lot of laughter then starts one dull scene after another. The stag party looks more like a card club gathering rather than a wild party with its boring conversations, a room full of guys holding beer glasses, cross talk that’s meaningless, a lot of mundane cracks about gays and nothing most viewers would expect in a film called Stag ever happens.
The acting takes a nose dive after the first 20 minutes and we find a lot of foolish banter between friends about their wives. The only interesting thing in the room is Candy and although she wears a nice tight fitted dress, never shows off much more of her fine clothed figure. Guys you’ll have to get ready with the pause button or you’ll miss stripper Candy’s big moment. If you have seen Bachelor Party (1984) starring Tom Hanks than you have seen the best stag party on film or DVD.
The video quality is just okay but the film does fit my 16×9 HD television with its 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio and that’s big for me. Colors are bright and the presentation does meet good standards. Some of the nighttime exteriors are not as distinguishable as I would have liked.
The sound quality is very good using either the Dolby Digital 5.1 or 2.0 through the televisions sound system. It gets better if you have an upgraded sound bar, but it’s not necessary and adds no additional excitement to the rather dull movie.
Stag has been rated R for crude and sexual content, nudity and pervasive language. There’s some male kissing, a lot of suggestive talk about sex and the nudity involves a quick flash by Candy. Be cautious when deciding to allow immature children see the film as it does have some scenes that are very inappropriate.
Specifications and additional film information:
Cast: Donald Faison, Eva Amurri Martino, Jon Dore
Directed by: Brett Heard
MPAA Rating: R for crude and sexual content, nudity and pervasive language
Genre: Comedy
Running Time: 1 hr 25 min
Video Release Date: August 20, 2013
Language: English
Format: DVD
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 or 2.0
Video: 16×9, 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio
Subtitles: None
Number of Discs: 1 Disc
Distributed by: Vertical Entertainment
There are no special bonus features or subtitles for the hearing impaired.
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
