a great movie of questionable design. if you're a theoretical physicist, get bent

Rating: Null/10 (1 October 2002)

Alright, alright. The people complaining are right: the treatment of theoretical physics in this movie is terrible. But who cares. The acting is universally solid, and exceptional in some cases. Patrick Swayze didn't blow me away, as he appeared to for many folks here: he played a slick scumbag for 95% of the movie, then cried with his face hidden in one scene. This shows better role selection, perhaps, but is not conclusive evidence of any great dramatic talent.
Richard Kelly's strengths are natural plotting, dialogue, and attention to detail. The use of a very specific date in the 80s would be a cheesy exercise in cashing in for most filmmakers, but here the time and place is captured in a manner comparable to Richard Linklater's Dazed & Confused.
*spoilers* What I am not as convinced of is that Kelly coherently understands his own plot. I've seen the film a few times and listened to the commentary track & deleted scenes -- in his commentary he talks a lot about the jet engine needing to be returned from the "parallel universe" in which most of the film unfolds. While I can understand this interpretation, I think ultimately it's a bit lame, and in particular brings up the issues of satisfying relativity that so many other posters have been complaining about. Declaring Donnie a "superhero" with special powers also doesn't do it for me.
But Kelly repeatedly encourages his audience to interpret the film individually, so here's my take. A deleted scene involved Frank revealing himself pretty clearly as being an agent of God. I think the events of the film are a private justification -- from God to Donnie -- for why Donnie has to die. It's almost like God wants to prove to Donnie that the world isn't as terrible as he suspects -- despite the fact that Donnie is going to have to give up his life to save others.
This interpretation brings up some questions -- is it better that Cunningham's proclivities would remain a secret? Doesn't the agent of God revealing how Donnie's presence in the world is destructive also the one who prompts him to much of that destruction?
But I do think it's more satisfying than some of the jet engine nonsense.