One of the Greatest Films of My Generation

Rating: 8/10 (18 March 2013)

A troubled teenager (Jake Gyllenhaal) is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes, after narrowly escaping a bizarre accident.
Having graduated high school in 1999, I was very much a product of the 1990s. And being into the industrial music scene, I saw the 90s as a decade consumed with nihilistic imagery, both with films and music. Friedrich Nietzsche was back in a big way, for better or worse (probably worse, since he is so misunderstood by people).
"Donnie Darko" missed the 1990s, but I think many people may age saw it as the film that capped their experience of adolescence. The film is quite nihilistic (in the most uplifting way) and even has James Duval in a minor (but important) role. Duval was well-known to those of us who gravitated to the films of Gregg Araki.
Before we had "Lost", this was the film that sparked amateur philosophy debates. We were not quoting Locke or Descartes, but we were wondering what it all meant, what was the deeper meaning, is time travel really possible... it all seemed so profound. Looking back now (in 2013 at age 32), I cannot help but wonder how much of this was youthful eyes and mind, and how much was really in the film... but I did find myself captivated watching it (yet) again, many years since the days when it was on constant rewind.
Richard Kelly was supposed to be the next big thing after this film came out. As near as I can tell, that never happened. "Southland Tales" never really took off. And then "The Box"... a film that wants to be deep, but probably is not. Many of the Darko devotees (myself included) wanted there to be something in the story, something beyond the original version, but it all seems so convoluted.
Anyway, "Donnie Darko" remains a classic of modern independent cinema.