New Cult Movie

Rating: 9/10 (29 August 2003)

The first time I saw Donnie Darko, I came away feeling perplexed and creeped out. I liked it, but just didn't get it. Now I have seen it five times. I absolutely love this film. I am not a teenager, I am a forty something bonafide movie freak. When people ask me, what is the movie about, I say, it's about an adolescent boy that is visited by a demonic looking giant bunny, it's about time travel, it's about the many paths that we travel in our lifetimes and it's about the consequences of our choices. This movie touches something very personal in me. This is not just a "teen fluff" film. It is haunting and thought provoking. The music is appropriately haunting as well. It is wonderfully cast and the acting is impeccable. As a rule, I don't buy movies, but I will buy this one. Even the cinematography is wonderful, the slow motion and backward shots. This is not a film for young kids. I think the bunny would scare them senseless because it is surely terrifying to look at. I am surprised the film is just now receiving so much attention, but I know it's because it is on cable all the time, I guess it was a sleeper at the box office. This is one of the most provocative and interesting films I have seen in a very long time, but I suggest you watch it more than once because it isn't an easy concept to grasp, and it would be easy to dismiss it as inconsequential. I think Donnie Darko is quickly becoming the new cult movie of our time, and am of the opinion, it deserves that distinction.