Donnie Darko

Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: There is not much that can be written about this movie, for words cannot express the quality of this film. This is the only time a movie has made me both happy and depressed based upon its terrific acting. I believe this movie is more realistic than "fantasy", as it brings out emotions that films never do. All I know is, it made me think long and hard, not necessaril about the plot, rather about the movie itself and its grabbing nature...This movie deserves 5 stars solely for that reason.

Rating:
Summary: Another look into the light at the end of the tunnel.
Review: Living up to the allusion of its own title, I felt this movie was a dark and interesting look at how I might even reflect upon my own life. It's unique examination of the perspective of a teenager who not only experiences torment but at the same time realizes his dreams. The effect of the events portrayed in the ending are icing on the cake. This movie is definitely worth a peek.

Rating:
Summary: A great start for Richard Kelley
Review: Rarely are movies which are released today so intricate and so well meshed. Richard Kelly was able to pull off both of these in his first try, with Donnie Darko. Donnie Darko is the tale of a teenager of the title's namesake (Jake Gyllenhaal), who is also a somnabulist. He is from an upperclass family which doesn't have your normal table topics for dinner. Coupled with the fact that Donnie sees a psychiatrist and takes psychiatric medication is fertile territory to make for such a vibrant character. Every character (even the janitor!) in the film springs to life with some kind of nuanced magic of which Richard Kelly is the only practitioner.

The intricacy is nothing to be overlooked; as the story touches on philosophy, time travel, the end of the world and subtexts. You see unusual things: hypnosis, detached jet engines, two-bit horror movies, dirty voyeurs and a geriatric woman who can't stay off the road. All the while resonating of the late 80's and all the while seeming completely possible.

If you think soundtracks are something more than just an annoyance, then you will love the artists they picked for the as well as well as the original score. The climax of the movie features a song by Gary Jules, called "Mad World", which really adds to an already amazing movie.

The way the film was edited and cut turns the 112 minute runtime into somehting of a blur. You won't notice you've been sitting for that long and you will want to see it again when it's over. The all-star cast is helpful for convincing people to see it, but I'm convinced, with the way Kelly handled less accomplished actors, that he could have just as easily pulled it off with no recognizable faces.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful and thought inspiring
Review: This film is a clever fantasy with a suprising twist, which should keep most viewers guessing until the end. In fact, ~Darko~ has a great ending, subtle, thought inspiring and extremly powerful.

Donnie Darko is an over-sensitive teenager, brilliant in many ways, who is convinced the world will come to an end on a certain day in the near future. His 'imaginary' friend, a hypnotic and somewhat demonic rabbit, commands Donnie to do certain things, (the famous schizophenic voice) also informing the boy of future events. The screenplay by director and writer, Richard Kelly, is indeed flawless, which manages to connect seemingly disconnected people and events in the boy's life in a very believable and compelling way.

The cast is an unusual ensemble that one would not expect to see in an offbeat film - Patrick Swayze, Mary McDonnell and Drew Barrymore; all gave great performances, and especially Jake Gyllenhaal in the lead, whose haunting expression, particularly his eyes during his strange visions, was quite remarkable.

~Donnie Darko~ is one of those rare and surprising films, dark, humorous and original - this is an excellent motion picture.

Rating:
Summary: Did someone say American independent cinema?
Review: Brilliance can only describe Donnie Darko. Every aspect of this film from the direction to the score is unbelievable. I loved it so much, I saw it 5 times at the cinema, in its extremely narrow and short release in Australia. The cinematic experience of Donnie Darko is incomparable, however multiple DVD viewing is essential. I have never seen so many extras pakced onto one disk! I don't usually bother with extras, but the extended and deleted scenes add immensely to this complex fantasy, which I think could have all easily been left in the full feature. I can't wait to see what Richard Kelly follows his amazing debut feature with.

Rating:
Summary: Words can't describe
Review: What can I say . . . this work is one of the most inspired and immersive I've ever seen. The performances are almost all completely flawless. The visuals are surreal in the most breathtaking and mind-bending way. I barely took a breath from the film's beginning to it's rapturous end.

In particular, the scenes in the school were most beautifully handled. No campy, Buffy-esque Romanticism of teenage coolness, or "Heathers"-type pretentious morbidity. All the relationships are believable. I can't think of a single thing wrong with this film, except that it was over too soon. So I started it over.

Cinematic perfection.

Rating:
Summary: Elegant and Moving
Review: There is always apprehension when the main cast of a science fiction/horror movie are teenagers (I know what you did last summer...). Unlike other teen flicks, Donnie Darko is in fact one of the most elegantly done teen science fiction movies I have ever seen. A wonderful blend of science fiction, fantasy, and macabre I highly recommend Donnie Darko.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent movie given justice with an excellent DVD.
Review: This is an amazing DVD. Ordering on Amazon[.com], it's SO unbelievably cheap - less than 12 dollars! Wow. And it's got loads of great extras. You get two commentaries, both very insightful and entertaining; you get 20 deleted/extended scenes, all with optional commentary; then there's the art gallery, the music video of the beautiful "Mad World" song, and tons more special features. If you're going to buy one DVD in 2003, buy this. And at Amazon[.com's price you can't go wrong. Amazing!

Rating:
Summary: Amazing but Flawed
Review: To oversimplify the film, Donnie Darko is about a boy who may have paranoid schizophrenia who is saved from being crushed by an airplane engine which crashes into his bedroom by an imaginary friend that resembles a guy in a demon bunny costume. This new "friend" begins manipulating his actions which creates a chain reaction inevitably leading to the end events. Throughout the film Donnie finds himself confronting such issues as predestination vs free will and the existence of God. The story takes place in the late 1980s, apparently so the viewer will have some expectation of what won't happen in Donnie's future.

The time travel plot provides moments of interest, but is ultimately weak and pointless. I cannot give a full critique without spoiling the ending, but this storyline completely contradicts the point the film is trying to make (see below for more details). However, where the film excels is as a character study of Donnie himself and his interactions with several other interesting characters. Some of the other characters are a bit one dimensional, but that is the point. Such shallow people do exist in real life and never look at the world with the amount of depth or imagination that Donnie does, and seeing the two extremes come into conflict is priceless. This is one of the funniest satires of suburban life I have seen since American Beauty.

If Richard Kelly were more confident to stick to straightforward storytelling and directing (the shifts in camera speed for example are just annoying and campy) and left out the superficial gloss and unnecessary time travel storyline, this film would be a true masterpiece. He does appear to have the potential to create surreal masterpieces like David Lynch, but he first has to figure out how how to avoid completely contradicting himself. It will be interesting to see which way he goes in the future; if he'll make the next American Beauty or the next Mulholland Dr. Maybe he'll surprise us and make a more successfull hybrid.

SPOILER: The film is supposed to divine intervention leading to Donnie's self-sacrifice. However, the tragedies at the end of the film are solely caused by this intervention. For example, Donnie would not have flooded the school or burnt down the kiddie porn house or visited Grandma Death's house without the encouragement of the bunny, so his mother would not be on the plane, his teacher wouldn't have been fired, his girlfriend would not have been killed, nor would the guy in the bunny suit have even died if not for his own intervention! So the whole film lacks even any internal logic (something essential to any surreal film), Donnie's "self-sacrifice" is just plain stupidity, and the emotional impact of most of the events in the film is completely undermined.

Rating:
Summary: Blew me away!
Review: This is one of those films that knocks you off your feet. I must say I had few if any expectations when I rented this, and boy was I surprised. Excellent acting, a great story, good character development, and some twists you just don't see will keep you in your seat. I have watched this movie several times, and it only gets better. I won't give anything away, but the movie is worth the money, and is worth adding to a collection. The additional included material that is not very comprehensive, so don't expect much. And the deleted scenes are, as usual, deleted for a reason. Take note, this is not some run of the mill, dumb hollywood blockbuster. This is the good stuff that gets made occasionaly.