Draws you in, spits you out, then leaves a tear in your eye

Rating: 9/10 (15 June 2005)

Movies are meant to entertain, be that via humour, shock, surprise, fantasy or whatever. But one thing that all movies have to do in order to make them watchable is make the viewer empathise with the characters. This empathy doesn't always have to have a positive spin, but the characters must always make the viewer love, hate, feel sorry for them. With Donnie (the brilliant Jake Gyllenhaal), we have a character that draws us right in, spits us out, then leaves us with a tear in our eye but a smile on our face. The movie carries a really good concept, and the direction is excellent (and what about the musical score - wow!), but it is the empathy that Donnie demands that really makes this film so watchable. And the ending is one of the most powerful and emotionally confusing that I've ever witnessed. A brilliant movie.