What? Huh? ... Really?

Rating: 5/10 (26 July 2007)

This movie's plot was unbearably incomprehensible. Simple as that. There are hundreds of different explanations as to what the heck was going on and the only one that really matters is the director's. But guess what? His explanation is the worst of them all and exposes what a fraud this picture is. Tangent Universes? Artifacts? Manipulated Dead? Tell me he's joking.
There is no way, NO WAY, anyone watching this movie could come to the director's conclusion without hearing it straight from the horse's mouth. The movie certainly doesn't contain the answer the director has given us.
Now think about that for a second. Nobody (even the people who love the movie) could have truly seen the director's vision on screen. What's worse is that it was more than likely purposefully withheld from us. Like the director worried we'd think it would all be too simple so he hid his "secrets". Your supposed to be telling a story A-Hole! Not painting a Picasso. Even once you've been spoon-fed all the answers on the web or through the director's commentary, they're still full of holes and the actions of Donnie Darko still make little sense. At times his actions are the equivalent of blowing up an entire country just to kill an ant hill.
Does that sound like a top 250 movie to you? A movie where the directors vision can not be seen without him explaining it to you? To me, that's the very definition of a FAILURE! The movie should be the explanation, even if it's subtle. Donnie Darko stands alone in it's creators mind. Now only if he would have let us in during the 2 hours in which the movie was actually playing. How in the world was I supposed to surmise tangent universes, alternate time and space continuum's, living receivers, manipulated dead and the like by watching this movie? If I was even possibly able to surmise such events I would be handing this movie a 10 in a heartbeat, but as it stands I have been left out in the cold by the director and this is never a good thing.
The acting was good, the mystery fantastic, the suspense unbelievable, the delivery ... horrid!