I think it's kind of funny, I think it's kind of sad...

Rating: Null/10 (20 December 2002)

A lot of the discussion of "Donnie Darko" has made reference to "Harvey" because of the giant talking rabbit. People are right to think of Jimmy Stewart, but they've got the wrong movie. "Donnie Darko" is more of an inversion of "It's a Wonderful Life."
"Donnie Darko," after all, is ultimately the story of a young man who finds out how others would have been affected if he HAD lived. People lose their teaching jobs, others lose their lives. Donnie sees all the pain connected to his actions and ultimately decides to prevent it by returning to the beginning and accepting death â' which, though passive, is a conscious act of suicide.
But we learn something from Donnie's passing that continues the "Wonderful Life" inversion. Donnie's presence, unlike Jimmy Stewart's, is not the critical link in the happiness of those around him. In the closing montage, we see that many of his associates are living with pain â' albeit a different type than they had while Donnie was around. Yes, he had an affect on those around him, but it many cases it was negligible.
There's stuff in here about predestination, too, and a hodgepodge of other topics. You look at the TV commercials for the movie (available on the DVD) and you realize the marketers (Dark. Darkest. Darko) had absolutely no idea how to sell such an unpredictable and thought-provoking film. "Donnie Darko" is not perfect â' the ending is a little confusing â' but it's original enough to merit a spot on your DVD shelf, and reason enough to watch for Richard Kelly's future movies.