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Summary: Who is Anne Clarke ?
Review: Just read Anne Clarke's review of Donnie Darko. This is my message to Anne:
Your text refers to yourself. Think about it. Then you will have to admit it.
Get of this planet!From a plainly creative masterpiece comes this vile excuse for a review.
My utmost respect goes out to the creators of this movie. I am also a fan of David Lynch. I am only sorry she used his name as arsnenal for her bitchings.
Rating:
Summary: MY GOD!
Review: That was the most twisted piece of cinematography and intelligent storytelling I've ever witnessed. For a long time I have wondered what my most favourite film of all time is. Well, I now know. Donnie Darko. Anyone who says "I don't get it", has simply missed the point. I'd say to them, "watch it again, and then watch it again". I did. And now I'm going to watch it again. This movie simply cannot be seen once.
It's clever. Maybe slightly too clever. But that never spoils the intrigue.
Richard Kelly.
The man is a legend.
Rating: 
Summary: Masterful at perplexing the mind
Review: Never have i seen such a unique, strange, yet brilliant film. It's almost a work of art, being so complex in it's plot, theme and structure. Donnie, a 16 year old high-school kid, is our protagonist. He's a bitty disillusioned with society and the world around him, due to his towering intellect and poor communicative skills. He feels alone and terrified of existence. However, Frank -the six foot tall, furry rabbit with disturbing mask- comes to his aid. Donnie is deemed a "paranoid schizophrenic" by his therapist (whom he is sent to by his parents, as they believe depression and angst is an *unusual* symptom of being a teenager) and is given heavy medication to combat his "problem". Frank, our resident "angel", comes to Donnie one night and calls him from his bed. Donnie follows, and subsequently avoids being crushed painfully under an obscurely positioned falling jet engine. Donnie is in debt to Frank, and now follows his instructions. Frank tells Donnie he has 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds before the world ends. Kelly creates a great feeling of uneasiness by giving the viewer a specific date, but never explaining why the world will end. Donnie, unwittingly, begins to say and do what he wants as he now thinks the world is going to end. A madcap story, adventure, whatever, follows as our "hero", Donnie Darko ("Is that name like some kind of superhero's?") begins his wind down to the appointed time. However, Drew Barrymore... well, a sore thumb that sticks out in a movie full of dark humour and satirical imagery. The bubbly personality of her comes through, despite her efforts to repress it. Thanks for the film Drew, but please, don't over-indulge yourself. In addition to the over-indulgence of Barrymore, the character developement was poor in parts, such as Donnie's mother, but can be overlooked as the film isn't centralising on her or the other underdeveloped characters. This movie sucks the viewers in, holds them down and forcibly makes them think. It's been a fair while since i've seen a film that'll make me think for hours on end. Overall, a great film. Worth ****1/2 stars.
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Summary: Huh? Ah-ha! Hmm.
Review: That's what you'll be thinking while you watch this film. Donnie Darko is the best movie you've never heard about. As others have said, it's hard to classify: funny, confusing, disturbing, odd, and imaginative all rolled into one. But nicely done, keeping your interest and making you wonder where things are going and what will happen next. Jake Gyllenhaal is cute and pensive; he could be mistaken as a brother to Toby Maguire. Watch the DVD extras; the deleted scene commentaries shed some light on a few things. But you'll probably not completely "get" this movie, which is part of its charm since you'll keep thinking about it for days after seeing it.
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Summary: A Tour de Force, wham! bam! life/death-affirming romance
Review: Donnie Darko mangages to achieve something akin to cold-fusion - the absurd yet necessary confusion of tragedy and triumph, beauty and the grotesque. This is a vital film, especially for anyone who thinks they know the nature of despair. Life is beautiful and if you don't think so, then go do something to make the necessary changes - add your own brush strokes. There's enough room on the canvass, for Franks's sake!
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Summary: Unique, Original, & Uncanny. Angry Teenager & Sci-Fi Factor
Review: Some sources might refer to "Donnie Darko" as a sci-fi film, but the truth is different (even though the film contains the element of time-traveling). It is extremely hard to categorize the film into one genre, but "Donnie Darko" should be best appreciated as a drama dealing with teenage-angst. And probably, as such, it succeeds most, but at any other levels the film offers much to savor for you. The story is set in the peaceful town of America in 1988. On October 2, at midnight, Donnie Darko is told by a silver-faced rabbit that the world's end is coming after 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. And Donnie wakes up next morning to find that a jet engine from an unidentified airplane had fallen onto his room, crushing everything. Is this a sign or coincidence? Donnie goes to a local school where he feels that freedom is restrained by conservative rules. He meets a new girl Gretchen, comes to like her, but his life seems still hard, while he is getting more and more isolated from the surrounding people. And then, that rabbit comes back again, ordering to do something, which Donnie read about in the English class (with liberal-minded teacher Drew Barrymore). But is this rabbit a simple illusion? Or it comes to him for real? The film goes on, defying our expectations. Donnie, who often sleepwalks and attends regularly the session with a counselor, might be seeing visions, or does not. The world may end at the end of the film, or may not. The greatest achievement of "Donnie Darko" is, I believe, this strange uneasiness that the whole film creates. The daily world of the film apparently is normal, but through the eye of Donnie (whose troubled mind is described in the same way as one great American novel by Sallinger), everything looks unstable, weird, and unreasonable. And Donnie makes points when he confronts some of the most conservative values of the town. Remarkable thing is that the film also shows some funny moments during its 2 hours. While watching this in Kyoto, Japan, with several young American audience, they laughed heartily at some parts, when one actor (famous for "The Ghost") appears as a spiritualism guru preaching on TV. Of course, his character is also a shrewd reference to the gilded 80s. Acting is superb. Donnie's Jake Gyllenhaal is a real power to carry the whole film to the surprising ending, and Gena Malone as her lovely girl friend (who hides some secrets) is also very good. There are some interesting casting choice, moreover, and some people might find it attractive. For example, Jake Gyllenhaal's real-life sister Maggie plays Donnie's sister Elizabeth, and Daveigh Chase, who gave the voice of "Lilo" in "Lilo & Stitch" (and herself playing the key role in the chilling "The Ring") plays younger sister of Donnie. But for old movie fans, there is a cameo of Katharine Ross of "The Graduate" and "Butch Cassidy" fame. The only reason I didn't give the film 5 stars is the ending. Not that it is bad. It doesn't give all answers to the questions, but that is OK. I just always want something different for the ending, simply because I like old-fashioned movies (and the part about "Cellerdoor" is no doubt too far-fetched). But after all the film chooses the right note of coda, I think, making it consistent with the rest of the film, which realizes the suffocating atomosphere for the teenager like Donnie. Watch it, and if you don't get it, just watch it again. The film is worth your effort.
Rating:
Summary: Riveting
Review: I bought this movie on the recommendation of a Target employee who fiercely recommended it but couldn't readily explain it. Despite being extremely confusing, it absolutely rivets you to your seat with suspense and slowly reveals the truth. Insignificant events turn out to have meaning. You dont know if Donnie is crazy or not. What is real, what is not? Do things really happen by chance? Are things really how they appear? Just like the previous reviewer, I watched this movie three times in the same night. There are clues carefully placed throughout the movie alluding to what's coming. I guess the reason I never considered buying it was the title and the box. The box looks like a Friday 13th/Freddie movies and doesnt accurately reflect the depth of this movie. And the marketing, I never heard of the darn thing. One of the deleted scenes on the DVD I felt should have been included in the movie. Since Donnie's hallucinations are increasing in severity and frequency, his shrink doubles his dosage. The scene left out is where the shrink tells Donnie he's been taking placebo's all along! That would have freaked me out, and I'm sorry the director chose to delete that scene. Missing this movie is like missing the Sixth Sense.
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Summary: By far one of the best of 2001
Review: Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly, 2001) All hail the coming of Richard Kelly. If the rest of his films are as good as Donnie Darko, America has found its first truly great director since John Huston. The title character (Jake Gyllenhaal, who easily deserved last year’s Best Actor award for this role) plays a paranoid schizophrenic high school students whose best friend is a six-foot-tall mutant-looking rabbit named Frank (James Duval [Go/The Doom Generation]). No, no one but Donnie is capable of seeing Frank. Frank makes Donnie do very bad things. When not under Frank’s powers of suggestion, Donnie is your typical high school student. Along the way, he acquires a girlfriend, Gretchen (Jena Malone, of Life as a House fame), goes to class, feuds with his teachers, has deep and meaningful discussions about the sex lives of the Smurfs, gets bullied by the school bad boys, tries to make life easier for an exchange student, and hangs out with his similarly-outcast friends. When midnight comes, however, Frank pops up, and Donnie becomes… someone else. The first time we see Frank, he tells Donnie the world will end in twenty-four days and some change. And things go downhill from there. Add to this mess Donnie’s English (Drew Barrymore) and Science (Noah Wyle) teachers, whom he likes; the insane Kitty Farmer (Beth Grant [Speed]), whom he hates (she seems to be some kind of psychology teacher with a twisted agenda); his psychiatrist (the redoubtable Katherine Ross); a motivational speaker who seems to have fooled everyone but Donnie (Patrick Swayze); and, of course, his family, who think he’s absolutely insane. It’s a thick, tasty stew of teen angst, mental illness, and the sheer beauty of growing up different than everyone else. Like life, it’s both funny and sad by turns, and sometimes cruel; Donnie wins a few battles, loses a few. The only real difference between Donnie and most high school outcasts is that, well, he’s got this friend, see… All of this makes Donnie Darko a good film. What makes it a great film is all the thought that went into the script and the direction; the underlying meanings, the visual clues, the attention to detail. Kelly makes M. Night Shayamalan directing The Sixth Sense look like an ogre with a mallet; this is the most symbolically-laden film since Begotten, at least, and possibly going all the way back to the original Cape Fear. Donnie Darko earned itself a place on the all-time 100-best list immediately. **** ½
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Summary: WoW WoW WoW - Must See! Highly Recommended!
Review: I haven't seen a movie that I enjoyed this much in a long time! And it wasn't bloody or anything like that. I highly recommend this movie.
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Summary: Confusing and bleak but ultimately, rewarding.
Review: Some films are impossible to categorize. Donnie Darko can be seen as horror, science fiction, drama or social satire but in truth it is just art. This is the sort of entertainment that is best experienced in a relaxed state of half dreaming. The plot defies analysis and the bizarre situations that arise are strangely suited to the audience's mood. After my first viewing, I didn't know what I had seen but I knew I liked it. In fact, it took several sessions to reach a solid hypothesis as to the narrative cause and effect. Jake Gyllenhaal plays the title character, a troubling but not troubled young man who lives in a different world to the rest of us. His average family offers him all the support they can but even Donnie's psychiatrist struggles to understand his situation. The prescription of antischizophrenic drugs seems to do little to blunt his visions, nor do they stop his nocturnal missions. I particularly like the way the soundtrack was gently used to separate the normal from the abnormal. The film's mournful version of "Mad World", (originally made famous by Tears for Fears), was one of the musical highlights. One of Donnie's most interesting qualities is that he has no fear of the common-place terrors that exist for the rest of us. He tells his teachers where to shove it, asks the beautiful Gretchen to go steady after only a day, speaks out against the school's guest brain-washer and even copes calmly with murderous bullies. He is however, afraid that the world will end in 28 days and is concerned about dying alone, but then who isn't. The story is interwoven with several mysteries, only some of which are even partially explained in the film. One of the most important of these occurs while Donnie is out one night on the local golf-course, talking to a six foot rabbit named Frank. I don't know if this is an allusion to the James Stewart film, "Harvey," but it is certainly not played for laughs, as Frank is quite sinister. Sometime during this meeting Donnie's bedroom is demolished by a falling jet engine. No one knows where it came from and no airline claims their lost property, but one thing is certain, if Donnie hadn't been AWOL, he'd be very dead. Life quickly resumes. The family's notoriety fades and school life once again regains its position of central torment in Donnie's life. His beautiful and sensitive English teacher, along with his grounded and caring science teacher, (Barrymore & Wylie), fail to offset the damage done by the stressed and misguided gym teacher, Kitty Farmer. She is a disciple of Jim Cunningham, (Swayze), a motivational speaker who reaks of charm and paternalistic love; so much so that Donnie, and the audience, just can't buy into his simple solutions. The film's cast is huge but of an impressive quality, for an ostensibly independent production. All the major characters seemed to go beyond what is expected and create three dimensional beings with quirks, fears and emotions that are subtly alluded to. I particularly enjoyed Gyllenhaal's performance as Donnie. When he is in the sway of one of his visions, the cast of his eye is more disturbing than any million dollar special effect. Beth Grant, playing the Gym teacher, is also outstanding. Her new-age zealotry is the perfect representation of what is truly dangerous in our politically correct society. Along with a great cast, the script is amazing. Not just in its creativity but that it ever managed to get funding. Chock full of unlikely theories, small but convoluted set pieces and thought provoking dialogue, it made the film entertaining, even after several viewings. Small touches bring Donnie's world home to us; like the discussion of the sexual mores of Smurfs, Ms Pomeroy forcing the new girl to sit next to the guy she likes best and an old lady suffering a life-threatening obsession with checking her perpetually empty mailbox. In the end though, it is the greater plot devices that twist our minds like some drug induced mobius loop. Is Donnie some sort of psychotic super-hero? Did everyone remember an alternative future, at the end? Were Grandma Death's theories on time-travel true? If you like pat answers in your entertainment, then you'll be frustrated with Donnie Darko. If however, like me, you like to solve puzzles, you may be prepared to dive into the depths of Donnie's world. Come on in; the water's dark.
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