Not just a weird movie...

Rating: 8/10 (28 May 2002)

A lot of people seem to feel that, just because this movie has plot twists and is cryptic, that it's being 'weird' just for the sake of being weird. I don't think this is true at all.
*Warning: Spoilers Ahead*
Here is my interpretation of the movie: Frank represents life. He brings Donnie many good experiences, like love for instance, but also bad things, like an unescapable destiny. Donnie knows that he is going to die when the world ends, just as we all know that we will die someday. But rather than focus on the good things Frank brings Donnie, Donnie chooses to focus on averting the inevitable, and fails to enjoy the experience itself. His desire to find the 'meaning of it all' from Frank is analagous to our own desires to find out the meaning of our own lives. Patrick Swayze's character represents the antithesis of Donnie...he is in denial of destiny, and chooses to live life in ignorance (and teach others to do so) in order to gain 'control over fear'. The moral of the movie, I think, is that there is a happy medium...accepting your ultimate destiny (death), but at the same time, not focusing on that, and enjoying the experience that life gives you.