Spoilers ahead.

Rating: 8/10 (8 August 2003)

Jake Gyllenhaal. Wow. Not just for his acting, but for his provocative appeal and natural screen presence. This is somebody I hope to see a lot more of. Maggie Gyllenhaal gave a strong performance and I am not surprised to discover the two are siblings as the onscreen chemistry was excellent between them. Beth Grant, who played Kitty Farmer (The neurotic dance team's coach) was also excellent. Noah Wylie is always fun to watch. Though I was totally unconvinced by Drew Barrymore's short cameo, I was impressed that she co-produced the film.
Based upon the stupid evil bunny ad and lame title, I would never have rented it if it weren't so well ranked on IMDB. When I rented Donnie Darko, I had no idea what kind of genre the movie was in.
The opening scene of Donnie Darko didn't really help either, but I knew this was going to be a good movie when the first song of the score played. I thought the choice in songs was excelllent (though overplayed at times) and added to the underlying sense of melancholic anxiety and euphoria of the film; a rare talent in filmmakers, save a very select few (as in David Lynch per Angelo Badallamenti).
I don't think the direction of the film was meant to actually go a specific place. What makes the film good is how it leaves interpretation up to the viewer. I think any good psychological thriller leaves plenty to the imagination (er, psyche).
There was, of course, some very obvious foreshadowing and explicit symbolism. When Donnie Darko had a talk with Prof. Monnitoff (Noah Wyle), they had to stop talking when fate and god became the topic. This movie, on a more obvious level, was about Donnie CHOOSING to accept his fate and follow the path of god.
I gave 8/10 stars. I am very hard to please. I would watch the movie again. I thought the use of Echo and the Bunnymen was particularly silly and clever and have to go buy their record now.