a would-be lynchian bland washout

Rating: Null/10 (16 November 2004)

After all the praise people had heaped on it, I thought I watch it to see if it's any good and it turned out a total washout even though I watched it with an open mind. I'm bamboozled! There is nothing whatsoever to justify the accolades! Watching it I felt like it never really got started. I was waiting for something intriguing to happen that would grab my attention. But instead we are served some puny pranks and you wonder what that ado is all about. So those practical jokes are supposed to make Donnie a cult figure? The things Donnie commits are nothing we haven't seen before. He's just an average student. Scene after scene Kelly tries to draw a surreal atmosphere but there's no food for thought involved. The whole plot is just too weak and lacks any kind of sophistication to make you reconsider anything.SPOILER: Donnie talks to the mirror. Oh big deal! He has a split personality! We haven't seen that one before! He travels back in time? What's new? There is nothing outstanding about Donnie and his personality. And as the whole movie was just tedious, the ending couldn't make up for the rest. Director Kelly seems to have studied David Lynch closely but failed the test miserably. For real thrills and mystery watch "Lost Highway" instead. Those familiar with Lynch's body of work cannot help but dismiss this as bland Lynch-light for teens that don't know Lynch or that only purport to like because it's très "hip." To each his own. 4/10