Excellent movie, but also something else entirely

Rating: 10/10 (22 October 2012)

"Donnie Darko" is a curious one. All of the ingredients for a notable movie are there (a fine cast, superb soundtrack, great writing), and it sure does jam enough stuff into the story: jet engines, tangent universes, superhero themes, there's even a teen movie nestled under all of this. And it all comes together to make something unique and absorbing; eerie, darkly funny, brimming with a strange mix of charm and sadness.
And sure, you can sum this up as a cult movie with an intricate puzzle of a story - but for me, this is a world of its own. I find myself getting sucked into this movie, just fall right in and get lost. This is primarily because it brings '80s suburbia to life staggeringly well. The marks of the period aren't littered all over the place like cheap props, but are sewn into the fabric. The touches are subtle but wholly effective. There's just something about this movie that puts me right back there as a little kid in 1988. I look at this and see a (jaded) middle America of the time, and not the Long Beach locations. It's really something when you can evoke a time and place like this and the filming locations don't poke holes in the illusion. Simply put, watching this movie is an experience (for me, at least), which goes a long way in explaining its high replay value.
And then there's that soundtrack (which is an unbelievable assemblage of songs), but on the matter of that Gary Jules cover . . . I imagine that, were I to hear that song for the first time outside of the film, I'd probably hate it in favor of the Tears for Fears original. But I know it for the last few minutes of this movie, and it beautifully accentuates the mood during those closing moments. "Donnie Darko" and "Mad World" are inseparable, and as such, it's a tremendous song.
This whole movie is fascinating.
10/10