Bits and Pieces

Rating: 8/10 (9 December 2010)

This film is really a great accomplishment. It has started its own movement and some lackluster mock offs (see Chumscrubber). I think the film is best taken in as its constituent parts. There are some scenes in this movie that really have a bite to them. They really stick out as these great little vignettes. I'm thinking for instance of the first dining room scene with the Darko family. Or perhaps when Donnie is first hypnotized by his therapist.
The ebb and flow of the movie works great as well. The whole time travel bit really fits in and gives the movie a spooky theme throughout.
Even more importantly may be the theme and impact of the movie. Sometimes to put yourself in someone elses (or a type of person's) shoes, you need to break out of the element of both you and that person. In this case we're breaking out of our element into the movie and out of the element of a troubled teen into one of a young man faced with the issue of the fate of those around him and the paradoxes of time travel. In a spooky kind of way this gives us the feel of what it feels like to go through the early years of high school. Although it doesn't look like it at points, it certainly feels like it. And unlike many other movies, this really places us in that universe.