haven't seen much better than this in loooooong time

Rating: 9/10 (9 May 2005)

This movie blew me away and i have watched it many a time without ever getting bored or sick of it. There are so many different perspectives or ways of interpreting the movie that every time i watch it i discover something new. Casting was perfect as Jake Gyllenhaal brought something to Donnie that perfectly captured the hopelessness and irony of todays youth and his creepy smile that appeared at the most inappropriate times such as when handling the gun and when carrying the axe really caught me by surprise and made me cringe and then giggle my ass off.
The plot is generally a boy Donnie has emotional issues and is awoken by his friend Frank, who reappears throughout the film and is saved from death. From here random events lead to Donnie believing he may have the power to affect time and possibly the future. However cryptic and involving this superhero-like drama storyline is what most enthralled me was the sideline stories that took snide swipes at modern society and our insecurities.
Such examples of this were the paranoid soccer mum, who screams censorship at the top of her lungs, daytime TV preacher celebrities, self-help and psychiatry (the first hypnosis scene had me rolling in the aisles).
However all this social comments do not crowd the film but add level upon level of intrigue and mystery to a complex enough cinematic experience.
I would not recommend this to people who generally like simple movies and expect a horror movie because this is so much more than that it cannot be classified so simply into a genre. To true fans i would also recommend the directors cut as it raises even more issues and brings others to light such as "the manipulated dead" and the workers. Great movie which is largely considered a try-hard independent film that is not cool because it is too popular but do not fall for that rubbish, this is a true modern classic that really forces serious thought and interpretation as every person who i have watched it with had a different perspective on it.