A very different film that just misses being cliched

Rating: 8/10 (4 February 2003)

Having seen Donnie Darko (DD), I know why it draws such different views and widespread discussion. DD doesn't give the audience any easy answers while raising questions for the audience. Although there is aspects of time travel, mental illness, teenage confusion, a misguided community and yes, a large evil-looking talking rabbit, this film is greater than the sum of its parts. DD is possibly the 80's teen film to end all retrospective 80's teen films while managing to avoid most of the cliches that surround this genre.
Much like a David Lynch film, DD draws the extraordinary and the corrupt from the shadows of American suburbia and makes for fascinating watching. Unlike David Lynch however, this movie has no real loose ends or events that seem to occur randomly. You may ask why this event occurred (especially with the climax) but everything is internally consistent - the real questions arise about the motivation of the characters who revolve around DD.
At times this movie can seem to move a little slow, but everything has the feel of measured and deliberate pacing in retrospect. Not knowing what is coming up next is fantastic. Even normal events can often skew far beyond expectations and the sense of "where is this going?" really adds to the atmosphere.
As said before, DD still hits some cliches - the bad kid, the teacher who doesn't understand, the parents who try but just can't be there, the misunderstood teen in Donnie himself. No doubt some audiences have mistaken the lack of a definite answer(s) to be a sign of great cinematic depth, whereas other audiences will simply see the film's resolution to be lazy and borderline cheating in using the oldest cliche of all. For me, the enjoyment of Donnie Darko comes not from the destination but the journey the characters take.
A very different film that is unlikely to be matched for quite a while.