A dark and quirky black comedy that is a pleasure to watch.

Rating: 8/10 (1 September 2002)

Adolescence is a tough time for a lot of people. For Donnie Darko it's more than tough. Donnie is a perceptive and highly intelligent young man, but he is also moody and troubled to the point of having to go to therapy and take drugs to control his anger. He comes from a good, if conventional home and goes to a good, if conventional school, but he just does not fit it. Donnie's problems are a part of his personality and in the course of the movie we see how he tries to deal with them. Just how big those problems are becomes clear when, just before a jet engine mysteriously smashes into his room, he has a vision of Frank, a demonic rabbit who tells him that the world is going to end at the end of the month. And things just get weirder from there.
Donnie Darko' does not fit neatly into any genre of film. I would describe it as a combination of black comedy and teen drama. Fans of The X-Files' will enjoy the dark, surreal mood of much of the movie and though it will definitely not appeal to everyone, I found it both funny and moving. Jake Gyllenhaal does an excellent job of playing Donnie, a role that requires him to be likeable, charismatic, pathetic and frightening, sometimes all at once. His romance with Gretchen Ross (Jena Malone), a new girl at school with problems of her own, is one of the highlights of the movie, as are the scenes with Patrick Swayze's terrifying motivational speaker and Beth Grant's evangelical gym teacher. But the most memorable part of the movie, and the one you will most want to talk to people about, is the ending. It is hard to discuss it without giving away what happens, so I will just say that it makes sense, in an ambiguous kind of way, but I still found it a bit unsatisfying.
Nevertheless, Donnie Darko' is an excellent film and just the thing to get out if you want to watch something offbeat that will make you both laugh and shudder.
8/10