Dark, disturbing and amazing

Rating: Null/10 (27 June 2002)

Though I don't pretend to completely understand this film (the whole film and especially the ending is open to interpretation) it blew my mind as few others have. Not every film, and hardly any of the cliched crap that comes out of Hollywood studios these days, can make one both think so hard that the brain starts to pound and feel deeply the pain of its characters. Perhaps I liked it so much because as an alienated (but not schizo) teen I know what it is like to create a reality outside the of the mundane and unimaginitive real world, but I think this film has so many depths to it that just about anyone with a brain would be able to garner some value from it. "Donnie Darko" is certainly an off-beat movie though and a melange of genres seamlessly woven together to create a work of arresting originality and vision. It explores so many metaphysical issues--fate and free will, alternate realities, time travel, the possibility of a God, as well as the less original theme of suburban dysfunction. Yet although it's heavy on the philosophizing, it's also a mordantly funny movie, rife with pop cultural and political references particular to the time in which it is set, the eighties.
The performances are uniformly fine. Jake Gylanhaal (sic?) turned in such a nuanced performance--why would such a talented young actor consent to appear in a piece of dreck like "Bubble Boy?" Jena Malone, as his love interest, is terrific and even Partick Swayze is quite good. Drew Barrymore turned in a good performance, although her character wasn't an essential part of the film.
I must agree with those who hail Kelly as a genius and I can only hope that he doesn't take the same route as Christopher Nolan, who while not yet a hack seems to be edging toward the banality of the Hollywood formula movie. I don't buy a lot of movies and I don't like to see a lot of films more than once, but this one I'm putting on my Christmas list.