Ever felt the chill wind of déjà vu? You will with Stag, as its entire premise follows that of director Peter Berg's none-more-black comedy Very Bad Things to the letter--except that Stag actually came first. While Very Bad Things starred Cameron Diaz and Christian Slater and therefore got a cinema release, Stag stars (oh dear) Mario Van Peebles, ex-Brat Pack star Andrew McCarthy and Taylor Dayne, and therefore didn't grace the silver screen. Van Peebles plays Michael, the loyal best friend and housemate of Victor (John Stockwell) who is poised to leave the buddy... fold for marriage and domesticity. So, being a pal, Michael organises a surprise stag party for Victor, and invites along a host of their old crowd--including, regrettably, drug dealer and racketeer Pete (McCarthy), and the obligatory pair of strippers, Serena and Kelly (Dayne and Jenny McShane). Of course, things swiftly turn rowdy, Kelly falls to her wholly accidental death, and the boys have to cover up the death fast. Having established this nightmarish scenario, Stag veers away from the Gap-ad Grand Guignol of Very Bad Things and instead attempts to juggle suspense, melodrama, and a fairly ponderous examination of modern-male morality. The results aren't particularly edifying, but they do display a certain conviction, even if it's never satisfactorily explained why Van Peebles spends the entire film without eyebrows. Them's the breaks. --Danny Leigh [show more]
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