Okay, but highly flawed.

Rating: Null/10 (24 April 2004)

Being vague doesn't make something good. Donnie Darko is okay, but its ending, without the help of the website, is simply meaningless. If someone drew a procession of random shapes, someone out there would describe it as being about the pain of a child abandoned by his alcoholic father. This is not to say something convoluted can't be good, but convoluted still has to have the meaning somehow planted underneath.
I really think that part of the reason this movie is so popular here is because the people who have seen it are almost entirely its target audience: teens. And, unfortunately, many teens soak up anything that tries to have a philosophical meaning, even if it really can't muster one. The same can easily be said about Akira.
That said, I would forgive Donnie Darko that if it weren't so uneven. The characters are drawn in such a way that we are asked to completely despise some of them, but then forgive them at the end just because they cry at how bad their lives are. I think asking people to sympathise with characters is always a noble attempt, but not enough effort is put into it, and the change in attitude we are supposed to have for them is a complete 180 degree switch. It's jarring and poorly done, and that's a real problem in any movie.