Time Travel = Thought Provoking but does not Masterpiece

Rating: 6/10 (1 June 2005)

This film has some merits and coming from a relatively young writer/director that's really nice to see. However this film is in no way nor anywhere near a masterpiece. The word "masterpiece" has been cheapened if anyone actually considers this a masterpiece. I have to get something out of the way right now. The very nature of Time Travel at this stage of human development can't be anything but thought provoking. But just because a film is thought provoking in some way does not qualify it as a masterpiece as many here seem to believe. Donnie Darko is a reworked and slightly offbeat hodgepodge of many familiar themes with an added sci-fi twist. In fact this film borrows from many modern films several ways and even a few older ones as well. In some ways, however, the retuning is relatively fresh and for that I'll give credit to the young writer/director. However, and again, just because someone retools stereotypes or inverts them or what have you that does not automatically gain masterpiece status for the film in question.
If memory serves this has been commented on by other reviewers but... David Lynch has explored non-linearity etc. much more effectively, skillfully and beautifully IMO than was done in Donnie Darko.