Finally-Something Original

Rating: 10/10 (7 May 2007)

The film is about beauty and the rewards of honesty and perspective. Societies loss of its grip on reality and its struggle to maintain a simplicity that eludes us all, that struggle to make things as typical and as expected as possible, is a myth that allows Donnie's straightforwardness and direction in the film to be very entertaining and real. There are many meanings and messages in this movie. Given, "Donnie Darko" is the most original and insightful movie I have ever seen.
The time loop element in "Donnie Darko" is one of many elements of plot development that shape the movie's actual meaning. The what ifs. The if I Had's. The joy of being true to yourself and seeing beyond what you are programmed at birth to see can be perilous-and yes, the world is cruel.
What if Death gave you a choice of escaping it's grasp? Would you allow yourself to love through senselessness or to question those with programed thoughts? If you did escape death would find it very easy to give in to your inner feelings of angst?
Jenna Malone's character Gretchen asks in the movie: "What if you could go back in time through all those times of sadness and darkness and replace them with something better?" The movie leads up towards two deaths. In the events leading up to the end of the movie, the apparition Donnie sees is actually Death itself. Not Frank, but actually Death. Donnie sacrifices himself after given the chance to see life outside of his death.
The ability to see outside of death causes Donnie to go somewhat insane and being outside of death allows him to interact with the life he was responsible for taking. Thus schizophrenia.
"I can only hope when this world comes to an end that I can breath a sigh of relief that there will be so much to look forward to." Donnie says this at the end of the movie and the statement more than galvanizes what this movie truly delivers.
People who deserve to move forward do not, those who don't deserve it do.