reprehensible

Rating: 1/10 (24 July 2004)

this is one of the most overrated films i've ever seen in my life and that is not hyperbole. when i express this opinion it is often met with responses like, "man, you just didn't get it" or "what are you talking about? this is maybe the best movie ever made." trying to show restraint i switch topics most of the time, but seeing as IMDb has been rated #94 on the list of greatest films ever made i just felt like i needed to say something.
this movie is awful. it is pretentious, convoluted, and sophomoric. it's art film for people who don't like art film but like to think they do. it clunks along slowly in a world of frivolous angst; for heaven's sake, donnie is being led on by a big apocalyptic stuffed animal... how is that not laughable? each performance is overdone, the special effects are offensively bad, the pacing is miserable, the cinematography overly showy, and worst of all the ending is... i am not even going to touch that with a forty foot pole for the sake of you "darko" obsessives who are probably foaming at the mouth after reading this much.
simply put, "donnie darko" (the film or the character) is unbearably self-important.
if this is number #94, ron howard's "willow" should be #78, lucas's "howard the duck" should be #64, costner's "the postman" #25, and "shrek 2" the greatest film of all-time.