Full of questions, but no answers

Rating: 5/10 (26 February 2008)

Donnie Darko the movie is quite a bit like Donnie Dark the character. It raises questions worth pondering, it searches for truth, it wants to see good in humanity, it challenges many assumptions, and it tackles many issues with passion. However, also like its namesake, the movie is restless and desperate. It jumps from issue to issue like Donnie, searching for hope, but finding none.
His psychiatrist asks him the question, "Do you feel alone?" He responds, "I don't want to." He explains to her that he wants to believe in God, that the debate could go on and on forever, but that there's no point because there's no proof. No proof, no point. The movie concludes that weather or not there is a God, if we can't prove he's there than it doesn't matter, so we should just live the best lives we can live.
**SPOILERS**
Donnie ultimately realizes that his impact on the world only causes negative results, so he 'heroically' jumps in front of a plane engine to save the world from himself. It was a touching end, but strangely unsatisfying. To think that he was only able to do evil was as chilling as the thought of there not being a God.
**END OF SPOILERS**
As far as movie making quality the movie was top notch. The acting was excellent, and often stellar. The movie's pace was a thoughtful but gripping, and the story was original and fresh.
However i found the the 20+ F-words to be distracting and in poor taste. Also the strongly sexual conversations and sub-plots were poorly handled. If they wanted to deal with those kind of issues that's fine, but they didn't, they just threw disjointed sex around until it dirtied their story and characters.
However captivating and gripping a movie (and character) it was, i don't only take story, quality, and acting into consideration when rating a movie. I also take message into my decision, since message is a huge part of what why we tell stories. And the message in this movie was hopelessness. It raised questions it didn't know how to answer, leaving you with a more or less well entertained, but bitter taste in your mouth.
A movie with the potential of 10 stars, but ultimately failing were it really counted.