Feature | Lights, Camera, Action! – The Stag (Movie Review)

By Freda Cooper 15.03.2014

Image for Feature | Lights, Camera, Action! - Oscar nominations 2014

The Stag (UK Rating: 15)

Films about pre-nuptial celebrations have gained something of a reputation - think The Hangover trilogy or Bridesmaids. They are outrageous, crass and shameless, so why another one on the subject?  According to director John Butler, his comedy The Stag has something to say - rather than shout - about masculinity in the modern world, and it does so with a cheeky Irish smile on its face in Vue cinemas around the UK now.
Image for Feature | Lights, Camera, Action! – The Stag (Movie Review)

Fionan (Hugh O'Conor) is getting married but is very clear that he does not want a stag night. The good metrosexual boy that he is, he would rather go to his bride's hen do. However, she is having none of it, and persuades his best friend, and best man, Davin (Andrew Scott) to arrange a walking weekend for the groom and some friends. She then drops the bombshell that she'd like her brother invited. He is known as The Machine, and nobody wants him there.

All of which sets the scene for a good-hearted comedy about male bonding, understanding, self-discovery, and more than a few revelations, plus a lot of laughs at the expense of a group of city boys who are distinctly uncomfortable in the countryside. Inevitably, they try to compensate for this beforehand by kitting themselves out with the best  in camping gear, and this leads to one of the funniest scenes in the film, when they all find themselves zipped up inside a display tent in the shop. The ghost of Father Ted hovers over the scene and raises the thought that a touch of Graham Linehan's pen might just have given the story and characters some much-needed edge.

Image for Feature | Lights, Camera, Action! – The Stag (Movie Review)

As it is, The Stag is closer to comedy by numbers and, even when the going gets tough, the audience knows that everything will turn out as it should. The Machine's arrogance and bombast is just a front and he's not such a terrible guy after all; the gay couple on the stag confront homophobia and win through; and the wedding, despite Fionan's aggravating pickiness, goes without a hitch. Yet, that is the one event that always seems in doubt, because of an irritating lack of chemistry between Fionan and his bride-to-be, Ruth (Amy Huberman). The spark is definitely there between her and Davin who, incidentally, is her former boyfriend and is still clearly in love with her, though.

Image for Feature | Lights, Camera, Action! – The Stag (Movie Review)

Thankfully, the film has none of the crassness associated with the many others set during stag weekends. It takes the group infinitely longer to lose their clothes and wander around the countryside, at first totally naked, and then covering their essentials with random items such as a Nordic woolly hat. Its charm goes a long way, but director John Butler says that he set out to look at the place of masculinity in today's world. To do that successfully, he needs much more than a cheeky smile.

[score=6]An old fashioned comedy in a modern setting, The Stag is more than likeable, mainly because of an endearing cast - especially the six actors on the stag who work well as an ensemble.  The script is good enough for a comedy, but, sadly, has nothing like the weight necessary to deliver the film's deeper ambitions.

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