The End of the World..... in Middle America

Rating: 8/10 (4 July 2006)

This is not exactly a feel good movie; aspects of Frank Capra's finest, but Jake, the lead actor, is not exactly Henry Fonda; more his angry, nerdier, grandson. The film's more akin to the allegorical brilliance of Lindsey Anderson's 1968 masterpiece, "If", set in a British public school - or private school, as it would be called on the other side of the pond.
The existential elements of time travel, concluding with the beginning, postulating that destiny can be determined by knowledge of what the future holds in store, are far from original, but first-time Director Richard Kelly's skill in placing different genres - science fiction, teen-high school ephemera and lifestyle gurus, knowing something less about life than the average Yankee pitcher knows about cricket, gives it an interesting atmospheric aura, together with the Edward Scissorhands-style depiction of an enclosed American small town environment. As someone originally from Middlesex, UK, this Middlesex in the States is quite recognisable and the fast tracking of day to day school-scenes add to the overall feel of quirkiness.
Ultimately it is a fable looking at a paranoid schizophrenic with teenage angst in an innovative fashion, but the rabbit from the future does not induce any perception of right and wrong, good and evil. Not a good idea to release the DVD in Guantanamo Bay.
Overall, compared to big budget formulaic dross stuffed down the throats of most contemporary cinema patrons, it leaves you thinking, contemplating and yes - even worrying a little. What if Dukakis had won? No, that really would be a parallel universe. Maybe a better one, actually.
Donnie Darko needs an Orwellian aspect to it or in a European cinematic context, a little more surrealism. But it was worth watching and damned good to discover Drew Barrymore was Executive Producer. A film like this, with a variety of contexts, enabling the viewer to use their own perception is well worth seeing. And the cult status it has achieved is well deserved.