Beautifully filmed yet flawed in places

Rating: 5/10 (25 November 2009)

This film is quite top notch as regards cinematography, and it is beautifully & quite eerily filmed. I was particularly awestrucked by the opening scene of Donny lying down in the middle of a road at dawnbreak, after sleepwalking.
The film starts at quite a steady pace, we find out more about Donny & the battles going on in the kid's mind & life. However, I found as the film went on, the storyline is actually quite weak and wears itself out, and some of the characters are quite underdeveloped & inconvincing e.g his parents, the English teacher and the rabbit who I couldn't quite work out such as is he supposed to be real, where does he come from, whats his beef? Jake Gylenhaal gives a haunting performance as Donny who's basically a spoilt snotty nosed rich kid who its hard to have sympathy for(his Dad buys him a moped as a punishment?)but despite this, Gylenhaal plays the character more sensitively than written so its easier for the audience to connect.
Again you could say this film is open to interpetation, in lots of areas and you may need a second or third viewing etc, but just the one will do me. Overrated film that begins promisingly for 30-40 mins then loses its way and ends up lost up its own behind. Thats my interpetation.