Terrific Dark Humor and Satire of A Violent Future

Rating: 9/10 (13 December 2005)

Is "Donnie Darko" the teen crazy, time traveling, prophetic, powerful, or helpless, suicidal or murderous?
The dark humor and satire of "American Beauty" meets the adolescent traumas of "Welcome to the Dollhouse" meets the alternative universes of "Happy Accidents" in a suburbia of hypocrisy and eccentrics, conformity and dysfunction, with a pervasive undercurrent of violence.
Executive produced by Drew Barrymore, it has a terrific cast with the bigger names like Drew and Noah Wyle in surprising and small roles.
The special effects are not flashy but are very effective.
The movie has been cursed in its release timing, because we just can't examine the randomness of violence victims -- let alone plane engines falling out of the sky -- the same way after 9/11. Reading the daily portraits of the victims in "The New York Times" makes us all feel as Cassandra-like as "Donnie" and willing to do anything to change what happened.
The soundtrack is a good selection of '80's mope rock, like The Joy Division and The Cure.
(originally written 11/22/2001)