Ambiguity does not equal genius

Rating: 7/10 (27 February 2005)

I hated this film the first time I saw it. It was not a fair judgment because I hated all the hype surrounding it. And I still do. I loathe it. I need to say this right off the bat: this film is not shining brilliance. It seemed that people who loved it for its ambiguity had never seen a film like this before with a vague ending, and then labeled it as revolutionary. Which it most definitely isn't. Citizen Kane was revolutionary, The Matrix was revolutionary. Donnie Darko is unique at best.
It's not hard to figure out, however, even with all this vagueness that surrounding the ending initially, that he decided to go back in time and place himself in the path of the jet engine to save the world in a selfless act of martyrdom.
However, I thought the movie was clever, and anything with the use of an evil bunny rabbit makes me quite happy, so that instantly gives it at least a 5. Jake Gylenhaal (SP?!) was quite good, especially at creating this feeling of being part of a surrealistic nightmare whenever he was around Frank, the rabbit, with his attitudes and so forth. I also like how this film is a very blatant homage (or rip off? you decide) of The Last Temptation of Christ. My theory is homage because Richard Kelly inserted that film (in a way) into the movie by labeling it at the theater where Donnie and his girlfriend go see Evil Dead. Think about it: he continues his life normally, meets a girl, falls in love, and realizes that if he wants everything to work out (to save the world), then he needs to sacrifice himself, like it was intended originally by a higher power. He needs to go back, and rethink his "selfish" choice. Anyway, I'm over-analyzing this film a little too much, almost as much as my friends who are in love with it. Granted, its a very well-done film. I respect Richard Kelly for making what he seems to think of as his baby, his pet project. My gripes with the film itself are that its script is a bit iffy with a lot of the secondary characters, and to tell the honest truth, it's just not terribly compelling. I guess I leave it at this: people should really lighten up about this decent film.