Darkness Falls

Rating: 9/10 (21 January 2013)

Warning: do not read too much into Donnie Darko. And by "read" I mean what the internet dissects from the film. Talk about spoilers for the experience!
And what an experience this gem was: an all-star cast in which everyone was either great or excellent, a perfect soundtrack and above all else: it was one of the most original movies I've ever seen.
Probably, about a decade ago, I first saw Donnie Darko, and that was the "Theatrical Cut." Unlike "edited for television," I don't mind theatrical versions because a lot of the time, the "Director's Cut" thoroughly ruins the experience. Best example, the near-excellent Payback's "Straight Up" – or Director's Cut – edition is positively awful. And same with the Richard Donner's Superman II version. Blah.
That all said, after buying Donnie Darko on BluRay, I decided my second journey down this, ah-hem, rabbit hole would be with the Director's Cut. Not disappointed was I, but it did "clear up" a lot of "left open for interpretation" scenes the first go-around. Some people would rather figure it all out on their own, while some need some explaining on the menu. I could go either way, unless it's too widely out of left field and takes fifteen discussions to understand. Donnie Darko wasn't 100% straight forward, but I "got it" both times I've seen it.
Sleepwalking Donnie inadvertently dodges a huge bullet, in the form of a jet's engine that falls from the sky and obliterates teen Donnie's bedroom while Donnie was wandering his small town at night. The kid's already having problems – he's on meds, sees a shrink, in fights with his parents, he's an outcast at school and has an imaginary 6 foot demonic man-rabbit friend. But, he knows something no one else does.
It's easy to pass this off to his illness, but we know something else is going on here. Amongst all the going on's, that is. This movie is chock-full of intertwining and interesting story lines with some fantastic characters. But, getting back to this synopsis, this is a journey of Donnie Darko attempting to understand all the "signs" following his near-death experience.
Did I mention he knows when the end of days is? And it's coming up fairly soon.
The movie's extremely well shot, enormously interesting in how different it is and leads people to so many conclusions even though it's quite concluded at the end. The score and music are top notch, despite not being from this 1988-era set movie and there should be a drinking game to count how many actors flooded the screen without looking at the credit list online prior.
Overall, this experimental film was a blast, and I loved how even a "weird" movie doesn't have to cross the line into "spaced out."
(Yeah, I've seen those "spaced out" types of movies and wouldn't recommend going into one that has a great premise and just falls apart because the director/writer cannot control their drug habits.)