A Dark Gleaming Jewel

Rating: 10/10 (2 November 2003)

Donnie Darko -- as insane as the plots turns are in this movie, there's something about this movie that is so abrasively real. It grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go. Testaments to fine directing: all the actors give excellent performances, and the atmosphere throughout the movie is intoxicatingly alien and foreboding.
Jake Gylenhaal is so deep in character as Donnie Darko that one has to wonder how many weeks it took him to decompress from his role as an achingly intelligent and troubled young man who seems almost too good for this world. Mary McDonnell is wonderful as his mother. There's a scene when she's in deep despair smoking a cigarette; when a neighbor girl rides by on her bike and kindly waves, Mary McDonnell manages to give a slight, tearful smile and wave back -- a surreal and touching moment. And here's the stunning jewel of the movie: Gary Jules' exquisite cover of "Mad World," which plays over a montage at the climax. If that doesn't move you, you're dead.