Donnie Darko

At first, Donnie Darko is a difficult film to understand and can seem absurd. What helps a lot to understand it and has made it a very beloved film is taking into account the concepts of parallel realities. It mentions time travel and although that is not exactly witnessed, the complexity of the film is based more on the fourth dimension. Donnie is the protagonist of a science fiction story in a parallel world, which is forced to play a role to prevent the destruction of existence itself. The mysterious Frank and many around Donnie become pawns for him to achieve his goal. The film mixes a whole series of elements, allegories, metaphors and messages that make it a quite enigmatic film. Using a book given to Donnie, he gives clues that the world Donnie stars in is not what the viewer initially thinks. The film uses Donnie and the events of the story quite a bit to raise the point that everything that happens in the world is connected and therefore the events of the world are part of a grand scheme. That would imply that all the actions and decisions that human beings take are already planned and that destiny is what really controls our lives. What would be raised would be something compared to the Loki series that raises the idea that there is no free will and that we must all fulfill a destiny that has been implanted in us to maintain a universal order. Even according to the philosophy of The Matrix, the decision is an illusion and the paradox arises as to whether we can really control our destiny or are we only tools of a great scheme forged by destiny. Donnie questions what he has to do a lot and that makes you think about what consequences there could be in the universe if someone goes off their path, breaking the scheme that maintains universal order. The Butterfly Effect theory and even other time travel films raise the question of what things would be like if such important events had not occurred. The film also gives Donnie a savior role, turning him into an allegory for Jesus Christ and other martyrs whose sacrifices were essential to a cause. The mention of the movie "The Last Temptation of Christ" is also a key because of the plot it had. Like that film, Donnie Darko is a story about sacrifice and death as a necessary destiny for future events and for the universal scheme. In that aspect, the film has a biblical metaphor behind it. Another element that makes up this film is its allegory about adolescence and it is something that is reflected in Donnie when upon entering that stage, he asks himself many questions, reflects a lot, knows love and suffers this internal struggle about whether to fulfill his destination. Frank even becomes his guide of sorts and symbolizes the aggressive rebellion that many young people go through. It can be said that the film knows how to use Donnie to represent the psychology of young people and think about the kind of role that destiny has in store for them. It is not strange that it has some moments of cringe humor that are characteristic of teenagers. It can be concluded that Donnie Dark is another independent film with an unconventional plot that gives it a lot of resistance, although it leaves a couple of doubts to decipher. It is not a film that can be understood by those who do not take into account the aforementioned elements, but all the elements that characterize it are what make it an authentic cult film. It is not a film recommended for everyone, only for educated people and movie buffs. My final rating for this movie is an 8/10.

"Harvey" meets "The Mothman Prophecies," as a troubled teen starts hallucinating a horrific 6-foot-tall bunny rabbit that brings him dark forebodings about death and disaster in the very near future. A streak of "Heathers" is mixed in as well, with trenchant satirical observations of high-school life in the late '80s (story set in Oct. 1988), involving a priggish teacher, a self-help guru (Patrick Swayze!), and a put-upon fat girl at the fringes of the herd. Finally, a whiff of "Back to the Future," in the form of a local eccentric who just may have discovered the secret of time travel, but a secret that has more to do with spirituality than technology.

A lot goes on here. There's a meditation on the possible overlap between madness and the ability to perceive the divine. There's a demonstration of why, in the Bible, angelic messengers (if that's what "Frank" can be taken to be) are often so terrifying that they have to start by saying "Fear not." There's an enlistment of what martial artists refer to as the "ki" (or personal energy, emanating from a person's midsection) in the type of time travel depicted here (the term "ki" is never used in the flick, but the term "path," another word for Tao or "Way," is). Quantum physics theory about wormholes is tied to the Fortean phenomenon of things falling unexplained from the sky, in a way that's more pivotal, and therefore more interesting, than the gratuitous rain of frogs in "Magnolia."

Time travel paradoxes and ironies enter the picture as well. One character (no spoiler!), whose life is saved by Donnie's ultimate trip back in time, wouldn't have died in the first place if he hadn't dragged her along to the opening of the wormhole. Another character (again, no spoiler!), whose truly terrible secret comes to light in the wake of an arson investigation, must go unexposed as a result of that same time reversal, since the arson now won't happen. Surely that's no oversight on the part of the screenwriter; it must be an acknowledgment of the choices and trade-offs in life, as well as of a confidence that no such terrible secret can remain hidden forever.

Somehow this pastiche works, largely on the strength of good performances. Jake Gyllenhaal is appropriately moody and, also appropriately, not always likeable in the title role. Drew Barrymore, who executive produced, appears as a frustrated first-year teacher. The movie's often dreamlike atmosphere is enhanced by the cinematography, the subdued but effective special effects, and the choice of the music on the soundtrack, which includes '80's pop tunes, of course, and a haunting original song (over the end credits) titled "Mad World."

Not for all tastes, but better, stranger, and more complex than I expected.

I love everything about this film! It's been among my favorites for many years. The theories that could be well in depth for hours, the soundtrack, sweet camera shots, and the brilliant writing! I'm proud of the fact that this is my 300th review on here. I'd say this is my 4th favorite film ever after Fight Club, The Matrix, and True Romance. The floating wormholes is super cool to me and the soundtrack is so damn good!

Thought provoking films are my favorite ever, the fact that you could float on talking about different aspects and possibilities is beyond fascinating to me! It's extremely impressive that Richard Kelly was 26 when he wrote the script and made such a profound experience!

Sweets. They are not nourishing, but they're delicious.

This is how I feel about this film. If I make a conscious attempt at explaining why I like "Donnie Darko", I can see no real meat in it. I got no lessons from the flick, I hardly got a story... Forget what others say about this movie as "philosophical", "clever" or "trascendent". It's not. But, my!, how such a young director almost manages to make you believe it is... I don't know about you, but I call that talent.

Yes, the movie is empty. The story goes nowhere, there is no message, no moral, but the way it's all wrapped up keeps you salivating throughout. Don't think it's mere flashy fireworks, though. This is not a case of style over substance. It's something more complex, and that's where "Donnie Darko" distances from the rest. This movie is freaking special, is full of personality. I wish more films had this character. The charm of this film relies on a lot of pieces that fit like a giant puzzle:

-Chosen time (1988) is strangely proper (you'll have to see this movie to understand it, sorry).

-The movie is BLUE. Its photography is blue, its characters are blue, its story is blue. Everything is blue.

-Music is great.

-Emotions are overwhelming. They come from everywhere and at the same time. You don't know what's happening, but what might be happening actually affects you.

-I can see some Lynch influences. The scene where the gym teacher talks to Donnie's mother at the doorstep is 100% Lynch.

-Some scenes are, almost, scary.

-This is one of the movies that present the idea of "beyond" in a most seductive way. You feel there's something more than this world. It never gets explained, but heck, I don't care.

-Finally, and most important, the main appeal of the movie is that it throws together unrelated concepts in such a way that they feel ghostly linked. The movie is a melting pot of vague ideas, that, thanks to a great direction, get connected in the subconscious.

Exactly because of this, I understand this movie has so much appeal for some people, and so little for others. If you fall in the trap, it will touch you, and this movie could mean the world to you. If you don't, it won't, and you won't see more than a bag of tricks. Whatever the category you fall in, you have to recognize the skill of Richard Kelly. The execution of "Donnie Darko" is more than remarkable.

I like to think of "Donnie Darko" not as a movie, but as a niche some people feel comfortably unsafe inside, that people being 25-30 year olds with an affection for sci-fi and darkness. The more you fit in this role, the more you'll get into this.

RATING: 8.3

From the first scene this movie had me hooked till the end. There wasn't a single dull moment. The characters were interesting, had good acting and sound design.

I'm rating this movie a 7 after my first viewing. The problem I have with it is the fact that I don't understand the story, I blame this on my own limited intellectual capabilities rather than being the fault of the writer/director. Last thing I would want is for movies to dumb themselves down to appeal to a wider audience. So the 7 score might be underrated to the true value of the movie but it helps me to keep track of how my perception changes in case I decide to watch it again in the future. I hope whoever reads this can understand.

All that being said, I would recommend this film to any adult fan of cinema, it's well executed and entertaining.