Overrated Tripe

Rating: 3/10 (4 October 2002)

"Donnie Darko" is the type of film that has the pretense of being deep and insightful, yet when you get to the bottom of it you recognize that it is quite shallow and has very little substance. The film is intriguing for a while-- you want to know just what is going on and why everything is happening. We are promised that all of this will be explained at the end by the buildup of tension, and then when the climax comes-- you end up knowing less than you did before. Clearly the filmmakers were going for a "Pi"-like effect in which much is left up to the viewer and that is interesting enough, but it this case it is easy to see through to the fact that not only do you have no idea what the point of the movie was at the end, but you doubt the director knew either. Some have argued that the movie is good simply because of the buildup of anticipation and suspense leading up to the climax (regardless of whether the climax means anything or not), but a lot of suspenseful buildup and no closure doth not a good film make. That being said, the director does make use of some good stylistic techniques, but it all seems to be going nowhere. A worthy effort, but ultimately a failure. My rating: 3/10