"Donnie Darko" is a mind-bending film that is VERY hard to rate or even review. It's incredibly strange and watchable...but also confusing and open to MANY interpretations. My advice is just watch it and see what you think.
The weirdness of this film doesn't surprise me that much since it stars Jake Gyllenhaal, an actor who seems to love taking chances with mind-bending and provoking scripts. Think about it...this actor hasn't just made one weird film but many...such as "Source Code", "Nightcrawler", "Brokeback Mountain", "Love and Other Drugs" as well as "Accidental Love"....all VERY unusual and difficult to categorize films. He certainly is a risk-taker....and I really appreciate that and seek out his films because of this.
The story is "Donnie Darko" is hard to describe....but I'll try. Donnie (Gyllehaal) is a disturbed high school student who apparently is in therapy after an incident involving arson. As the movie progresses, several things become obvious: he's brilliant, he can see the hypocrisy and bull around him, he's obsessed with time travel AND he's psychotic and dangerous. And, as the film progresses you see the world as he does...filled with all sorts of apparent delusions, including an imaginary friend dressed as a demonic rabbit, Frank. You KNOW all this will lead to something horrible...but what, you can't predict. What also is odd is that despite being highly disturbed, Donnie is, somehow, on to something...but what?!
The film is a mind-bending experience. I didn't love it, but I really respect it for trying to do something unique. I film you will probably either love or hate...I think it's worth your time.
The weirdness of this film doesn't surprise me that much since it stars Jake Gyllenhaal, an actor who seems to love taking chances with mind-bending and provoking scripts. Think about it...this actor hasn't just made one weird film but many...such as "Source Code", "Nightcrawler", "Brokeback Mountain", "Love and Other Drugs" as well as "Accidental Love"....all VERY unusual and difficult to categorize films. He certainly is a risk-taker....and I really appreciate that and seek out his films because of this.
The story is "Donnie Darko" is hard to describe....but I'll try. Donnie (Gyllehaal) is a disturbed high school student who apparently is in therapy after an incident involving arson. As the movie progresses, several things become obvious: he's brilliant, he can see the hypocrisy and bull around him, he's obsessed with time travel AND he's psychotic and dangerous. And, as the film progresses you see the world as he does...filled with all sorts of apparent delusions, including an imaginary friend dressed as a demonic rabbit, Frank. You KNOW all this will lead to something horrible...but what, you can't predict. What also is odd is that despite being highly disturbed, Donnie is, somehow, on to something...but what?!
The film is a mind-bending experience. I didn't love it, but I really respect it for trying to do something unique. I film you will probably either love or hate...I think it's worth your time.