Not Donnie, but still Darko

Rating: 8/10 (22 June 2009)

I have to say that I love this movie. It is similar in style to Silence of the Lambs, which sustained an air of tension and blackness without the usual visual excesses of the horror genre. The story is told so well both in the selection and the framing of its subjects. The direction is tight and uncomplicated.
But I was most impressed with the acting. The whole cast was effective, but two in particular. Robert Downey Jnr has never been a particular favourite, but he is splendid as edgy journalist Paul Avery. Jake Gillenhaal gives his best turn yet as a man who might, or might not, suffer from one of the Autism spectrum disorders. He has already one iconic character to his credit in Donnie Darko, with Robert Graysmith he has surely established another. He typifies the difficulties autistic people have in maintaining relationships, even when their intelligence cannot be doubted.
A tour de force effort by all concerned.