It's a very , very mad world

Rating: 9/10 (30 November 2013)

"Back to the future" meets David Lynch – this is the way "Donnie Darko" could be described to somebody who hasn't yet seen this movie . A movie too uncommercial and ambitious for mainstream Hollywood has become quickly a cult movie and gained fame. You will either love it or hate it. I love it.
At it's heart "DD" is a story about dysfunctional family. Donnie is intelligent , independent and sensitive teenager that can't communicate too well with his family , friends or teachers . It's a teenage drama told with honesty that is hard to find . It's easy to see that Kelly writes about something he did experience too. Not only Donnie isn't understood , but also Chinese girl Cherita , teacher Karen and his girlfriend Gretchen. It's a story about search for meaning of life , fear of death , looking for God , destiny and free will. All those subject are treated seriously and with subtlety.
Jake Gyllenhal gives a performance of lifetime as emotionally troubled teenager. He portrays so many different emotions of Donnie with talent never found in his other roles. It's a performance that deserve at least an Oscar nomination. His real life sister Maggie Gyllenhal gives him solid support playing his sister. Patrick Swayze gives an interesting performance as the fraud Jim Cunningham. Drew Barrymore (who is also one of the producers of the movie) gives a surprisingly for her mature role as the teacher Karen. Bet Grant shines as fanatical teacher Kitty. I also admire Jena Malone for heartbreaking performance as the delicate Gretchen.
"DD" has a fantastical soundtrack , which includes songs like : "The killing moon" by Echo and The Bunnymen , "Head over hells" by Tears for fears , "Notorious" by Duran Duran , "Love will tear us apart" by Joy Division and especially "Mad world" by Gary Jules and Michael Andrews. All the songs are well placed in the movie. The sequence where "Mad world" appears is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen.
Richard Kelly directs this movie in a fantastic way. With the help of atmospheric music by Michael Andrews and creepy photography by Steven Porter he creates a movie that is really dark . A true haunting sadness and mystery seems to be everywhere. The movie has soul and heart . It's sad , scary and full of black humor. It's art , not entertainment despite using a pop culture imagery (time travel portals , scary figures). It's also a tribute to the 80's (the action takes place in 1988).
"Donnie Darko" can't be a masterpiece , because of one problem . Richard Kelly wanted to give the viewer as much freedom as possible to make his own interpretation of what is going on. The movie is open to interpretations – it was a dream , Donnie's imagination , God's interference , time travel paradox or side effect of pills. Kelly achieved that by hiding from the audience information necessary to really understand the movie the way it was always intended. The fact that the Director's cut and the official website exist is a proof that Kelly himself admits of failing to make "Donnie Darko" a self-contained medium. Without most of the information from "Philosophy of time travel" (it is expanded in the Director's cut) it's not strange that many viewer's weren't able to understand the complex story .
It doesn't change the fact that "Donnie Darko" is one of the most original , ambitious and thought-provoking movies I've ever seen. Richard Kelly will probably stay a one-hit wonder director . I doubt he will anything even half as good as "DD" in the future. It doesn't change the fact that he created something that deserves to be admired – drama about loneliness , pain and fear told by using science fiction. I give it 9/10.