User reviews

From the first scene this movie had me hooked till the end. There wasn't a single dull moment. The characters were interesting, had good acting and sound design.

I'm rating this movie a 7 after my first viewing. The problem I have with it is the fact that I don't understand the story, I blame this on my own limited intellectual capabilities rather than being the fault of the writer/director. Last thing I would want is for movies to dumb themselves down to appeal to a wider audience. So the 7 score might be underrated to the true value of the movie but it helps me to keep track of how my perception changes in case I decide to watch it again in the future. I hope whoever reads this can understand.

All that being said, I would recommend this film to any adult fan of cinema, it's well executed and entertaining.

I love everything about this film! It's been among my favorites for many years. The theories that could be well in depth for hours, the soundtrack, sweet camera shots, and the brilliant writing! I'm proud of the fact that this is my 300th review on here. I'd say this is my 4th favorite film ever after Fight Club, The Matrix, and True Romance. The floating wormholes is super cool to me and the soundtrack is so damn good!

Thought provoking films are my favorite ever, the fact that you could float on talking about different aspects and possibilities is beyond fascinating to me! It's extremely impressive that Richard Kelly was 26 when he wrote the script and made such a profound experience!

Donnie Darko is a truly fascinating film experience. It's not a perfect film, but it's an ambitious one, and for the most part, it fulfills its ambition.

I will give no spoilers here, as the experience of watching this film for the first time is something I dare not strip away from any readers. For a small plot summary, Donnie Darko is a teen in high school who sleepwalks, and begins to experience ethereal visions from a ghostly rabbit named Frank, who informs him about a dangerous event, which plagues Donnie's life for a month.

Why is this film great?: Jake Gyllenhaal gives a stellar performance as Donnie Darko. The character goes through so many emotional beats, and Gyllenhaal nails each one. The teen angst is played perfectly, and he's truly someone we can all say we've felt like, or seen at some point. His development is realized expertly by Gyllenhaal, and is truly a character who has made a change by the end of the film. It's not heavy handed though, so you might have to go on a symbolism hunt whilst watching the film. Don't worry though, because it's a fun film to find symbolism in. Remember, in this film, the secrets lie within the subtext.

The script and direction from Richard Kelly are simply incredible for a first film effort. While some of Kelly's characters do have loose ends, and some aren't explained well or given enough screen time, the plot is fully realized, and mesmerizing. The twists in this film are confusing, but so ingenius once you understand the film. Kelly crafts a plot that makes sense in the end, and better yet, is not only constructed well, but has several meanings. The film is interpretable in many ways, and it uses ambiguity in the way ambiguity should be used: Sparsely, but effectively.

If you don't get this film upon first viewing like me, don't assume you didn't like it, and forget about it. Watch a couple of analysis videos, and it will not only make sense, but you might be like me, and feel like a big dummy for not noticing it the first time. That's the fun of watching film though! Learning about new things, and experiencing topics and messages in new visual experimentations and arrangements. Don't feel bad if you don't get it. It's meant to be understood over time. It's just that good of a film. It's the kind of film that lingers with you after the credits roll.

In conclusion, Donnie Darko suffers from some early 2000s corniness and has some faults in characters, but the plot and main character are so incredibly solid that it renders those mistakes seemingly unimportant and unnoticeable. You might not get it, but that's okay. Donnie Darko is a purposefully complicated film, and is also a purely emotional film upon first viewing. All that thinking comes after the credits roll. Not too many films these days make you think and feel directly after one another. Give this film a watch. I don't think you'll regret it if you give it a chance. It's a thought provoking film to view while in this time of quarantine!

This movie had a really cool feeling to it that I liked a lot, and I completely understand why it's sort of a cult classic. It's very interesting and, in a way, also quite charming.

Having said that, I.. did not enjoy this all that much. It just does too poorly of a job explaining its plot and instead of feeling satisfied, I felt confused and almost irritated to the point of losing almost all interest inte the film. I watched the director's cut that, at a 25 minutes longer run-time, still didn't have enough time to show the piece of exposition needed to understand what the hell was going on.

Unpopular opinion maybe, but apart from some cool bits, "Donnie Darko" seriously let me down.

I don't know what to type. Honestly. This is just one of those movies you have to see for yourself.

Its also one of those movies that to fully get it, you have to see it more than once. Its a brilliant film, but a bit confusing.

Well, the plot may sound stupid, and if it hadn't been as brilliantly executed, it probably would have been. But its brilliant. I am going to attempt to explain it. Here goes...

A giant rabbit (no kidding) comes to proclaim the end of the world (no kidding) to troubled teenager Donnie Darko. Then, an aeroplane engine crashes into his bedroom while the rabbit is proclaiming the end of the world. (no kidding. Donnie then is able to see peoples 'paths', (represented as a long tube in front of the person, showing where they are going to go next) and is able to deny his own path. Confusing eh? This is a movie I can't explain any more. The rest has to be seen for yourself. Don't go in expecting a fully blown horror movie or any type of film with a straightforward, easy to understand plot. Because this film is really deep. Thought provoking, captivating, mesmerising and moving, this is a work of genius. This isn't the sort of film you can just watch casually though. You have been warned....

Putting together a jigsaw puzzle can be fun. And make no mistake, Donnie Darko is a puzzle of a film which asks the viewer to put the pieces together. But in the end there is frustration as you realize you were never going to be able to put it all together. There are pieces missing. So while the film, which is certainly captivating and thought-provoking, is often fascinating it ultimately is setting you up for a bit of disappointment. It's nice to have a film which makes you think, which makes you work to understand it. It's also fine to have a film which is open to interpretation. But if in the end you don't have all the information necessary to make a reasonable interpretation that is a problem. And that is the case here. What just happened here? Hard to say. The untidy ending doesn't completely ruin the film, this is still a film well worth seeing. But there's no denying that the ending is a bit of a letdown.

So who is Donnie Darko? He's a high school kid, a really smart guy. But he's got issues. Paranoid schizophrenia maybe, at least that's what his therapist thinks. He suffers from hallucinations, he sees things. And right now he's seeing a giant bunny rabbit named Frank. One night a jet engine crashes into Donnie's bedroom. But Donnie's not there because Frank has summoned him to a golf course where he tells Donnie that the world is going to end in 28 days. What is Donnie meant to do with this information? Is this schizophrenic teen supposed to somehow save the world? Oh by the way, that jet engine? The one that would have killed Donnie had a giant bunny rabbit not summoned him to a golf course in the middle of the night? Nobody knows where that engine came from. No airplane lost an engine. Well that's weird. Things are only going to get weirder but then again you probably already guessed that since the plot revolves around a giant bunny rabbit.

So the clock ticks down toward the bunny-prophesied doomsday. Among other events Donnie gets himself a girlfriend, rebels against life lessons taught by a ludicrous self-help guru and discusses time travel with one of his teachers. Time travel? Is that what this film is actually about? Who knows. The film never comes close to fully explaining itself. But the film certainly holds your attention. You can't help but be intrigued. You expect that all the weirdness will ultimately pay itself off with some sort of brilliant finish. Sadly that is not the case. The ending, while admittedly powerful, only adds to the confusion. There is a director's cut which makes things a little clearer but in the original version you're left to figure everything out for yourself. And you don't have near enough information to be able to do that. Donnie Darko is a very compelling film. And it is performed wonderfully. Jake Gyllenhaal hits all the right notes in his portrayal of Donnie, a character who is just as confused as we are. And the supporting cast is by and large excellent as well. Whether it be big stars like Drew Barrymore and Patrick Swayze, or lesser-known performers who you've never heard of, everyone fits their role very well, contributing their solid piece to the puzzle. But that puzzle never does fully come together. And that ultimately makes Donnie Darko a somewhat frustrating film. There's so much good stuff here to recommend it. But there's also that little tinge of regret, a wish that perhaps the giant bunny rabbit could have told Donnie, and us, what the heck was going on.

I first saw this on cable tv. Thumbing through the channels I stopped just as Donnie Darko was beginning. I thought the title was weird, and readied my thumb on the remote channel selector...pointed it at the TV...and it stayed there for the rest of the movie! I couldn't stop watching! I've never seen a movie like this. The movie has a beautiful aspect (especially the end). And there are a few chuckles as well. Contrary to the more critical commentary, there is depth and complexity to the story that kind of requires you to see it more than once. I'm no genius, but what I gathered the basis of Donnie Darko to be is about our part in the deliberate DESIGN of our destiny, and I catch more each time I watch it.

Regardless of anything, sincere thought and expression went in to the making of Donnie Darko. Mixed with skill and technical ability = Art.

A WORK OF ART! In the top 100 movies of all time in my opinion.

Well made movie, well directed, well acted, good soundtrack, etc. There is nothing terribly wrong with this film, but I just don't get it. I also 'don't get' why the majority of moviegoers rated this movie so highly...

Maybe I have no 'sensibility' for such matters, or maybe the makers of this movie weren't sure themselves what they wanted to convey. Throughout the movie there are several occurrences which make no sense with the movie itself and confuse the viewer, then there are subplots started but never explained, and the very strange ending only adds to an overall sense of dismay. I just don't get it!

"Harvey" meets "The Mothman Prophecies," as a troubled teen starts hallucinating a horrific 6-foot-tall bunny rabbit that brings him dark forebodings about death and disaster in the very near future. A streak of "Heathers" is mixed in as well, with trenchant satirical observations of high-school life in the late '80s (story set in Oct. 1988), involving a priggish teacher, a self-help guru (Patrick Swayze!), and a put-upon fat girl at the fringes of the herd. Finally, a whiff of "Back to the Future," in the form of a local eccentric who just may have discovered the secret of time travel, but a secret that has more to do with spirituality than technology.

A lot goes on here. There's a meditation on the possible overlap between madness and the ability to perceive the divine. There's a demonstration of why, in the Bible, angelic messengers (if that's what "Frank" can be taken to be) are often so terrifying that they have to start by saying "Fear not." There's an enlistment of what martial artists refer to as the "ki" (or personal energy, emanating from a person's midsection) in the type of time travel depicted here (the term "ki" is never used in the flick, but the term "path," another word for Tao or "Way," is). Quantum physics theory about wormholes is tied to the Fortean phenomenon of things falling unexplained from the sky, in a way that's more pivotal, and therefore more interesting, than the gratuitous rain of frogs in "Magnolia."

Time travel paradoxes and ironies enter the picture as well. One character (no spoiler!), whose life is saved by Donnie's ultimate trip back in time, wouldn't have died in the first place if he hadn't dragged her along to the opening of the wormhole. Another character (again, no spoiler!), whose truly terrible secret comes to light in the wake of an arson investigation, must go unexposed as a result of that same time reversal, since the arson now won't happen. Surely that's no oversight on the part of the screenwriter; it must be an acknowledgment of the choices and trade-offs in life, as well as of a confidence that no such terrible secret can remain hidden forever.

Somehow this pastiche works, largely on the strength of good performances. Jake Gyllenhaal is appropriately moody and, also appropriately, not always likeable in the title role. Drew Barrymore, who executive produced, appears as a frustrated first-year teacher. The movie's often dreamlike atmosphere is enhanced by the cinematography, the subdued but effective special effects, and the choice of the music on the soundtrack, which includes '80's pop tunes, of course, and a haunting original song (over the end credits) titled "Mad World."

Not for all tastes, but better, stranger, and more complex than I expected.

Above all, this film has a kind of flow to it like nothing I've ever experienced in any other film before. The magic sets in from the very first moment, when we see Donnie waking up (and the song 'The Demon Moon' starts), and you just go with that flow and let yourself be drawn into that world. The story unfolds like a dream and the ambiguity (at least in the theatrical cut) as well as the fantastic songs help create an absolutely unique and strangely compelling atmosphere.

Fantastic script and fantastic performances: this film has a richness in its characters that amazes me every time I watch it. Forget the director's cut - here for once the theatrical version is the masterpiece. Probably the best social commentary on American society I've ever seen but beautifully woven into an ambiguous, slightly surreal fantasy tale with a haunting soundtrack.

My vote: 10 out of 10

Favorite films: http://www.IMDb.com/list/mkjOKvqlSBs/

Lesser-known Masterpieces: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls070242495/

Favorite Low-Budget and B-Movies: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls054808375/

Favorite TV-Shows reviewed: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls075552387/

The fact that this is the Directors first film is amazing to me. The scenes dripped with style, yet that style never seemed distracting. None of it was self congratulatory or gluttonous. The visuals were supported by a truly emotional score and its hard to find fault in the 80's pop tunes that found their way into some of the more impressive scenes.

The story is very much thought provoking. Its the type that leaves you pondering the possibilities voiced by the characters. There is nothing condescending about this film. Answers arent simply handed out, rather the viewer is left to draw many conclusions instead. The acting is also top notch. If i hadnt known beforehand that Patrick Swayze was in this film I would have been shocked. His character is amusing and interesting all at the same time. A great cameo for him. Drew Barrymore is forgetable, though that in no way detracts from the film. Of course the star is Jake Gyllenhaal. There is nothing that can be said to properly praise his performance. The rest of the cast chosen fit their roles perfectly. All of these things combine to create a stunning film. One can only hope that filmgoers will give this little gem a shot and support a true wonder. This is the only film I have awarded a 10/10 on the IMDB.

I've heard so much about this " Wonderful , mind blowing masterpiece " . Interestingly enough most of the rave reviews of DONNIE DARKO came via this very website which goes against the grain of other reviewers . Roger Ebert only gave the movie two and a half stars while many other websites dedicated to film reviews claim this movie is confused and overrated . It should also be mentioned that if it's such a great , thought provoking piece of cinema then why did it miss out on so many nominations at the more prestigious film award ceremonies ? And don't say politics , an independent feature like IN THE BEDROOM didn't pick up any Oscars but that didn't stop it being nominated for several

DONNIE DARKO is by no means terrible but it is overrated . Dare I say it's a case of the emperors new clothes ? That is people are somewhat embarrassed upon seeing this film and not understanding it that they feel they must praise it in order to spare their supposed ignorance . Let me ask you this - What genre of film is this ? Everyone will give a slightly different answer I'm sure and if an audience is undecided about the genre then how can they decide what the ending is about ?

And there is a quite serious plot hole involved in the story . Donnie sees a demonic rabbit called Frank throughout the movie who tells him at exactly what moment the world will end . Wormholes , time warps etc may actually exist in scientific reality as may the ending but the central plot does not since the whole movie rests on Frank or Donnie being able to see into the future and no scientist will claim there's any scientific basis for fortune telling . So you see it's not really about time travel , it's about mysticism , predestination and other superstitious mumbo jumbo which Richard Kelly is using to fool the audience . In effect this movie is one big cheat and most people have failed to notice this

Having said that Richard Kelly does deserve some credit for making a movie that's not about car chases and explosions , this is a movie dealing with teen angst and the dark side of middle American small town values but Kelly has missed an opportunity to make the most of the potential . I know the film was released before the war on terror so there'd be little need to see news broadcasts on the fall out of the original Gulf war but from a pop culture point of view wouldn't this have been better set in the early 1990s when grunge culture was the rage instead of 1988 ? I mean what music best suits this movie's atmosphere ? Echo And The Bunnymen or Nirvana ? In fact if it had have set in the presidential elections of early 1990s this would have coincidentally tied in with what's going on in the world today with Saddam and Iraq getting a mention ! And wouldn't this movie be held up in superstitious awe now ?

As it stands it's nowhere as clever as it thinks it is for the reasons outlined . Perhaps Mr Kelly started out on with two movies , one a high concept science fiction thriller and the other a low concept drama about a mentally ill teenager and decided to merge the two with not too successful results . Watching DOnnie Darko this was the gut feeling I got

At first, Donnie Darko is a difficult film to understand and can seem absurd. What helps a lot to understand it and has made it a very beloved film is taking into account the concepts of parallel realities. It mentions time travel and although that is not exactly witnessed, the complexity of the film is based more on the fourth dimension. Donnie is the protagonist of a science fiction story in a parallel world, which is forced to play a role to prevent the destruction of existence itself. The mysterious Frank and many around Donnie become pawns for him to achieve his goal. The film mixes a whole series of elements, allegories, metaphors and messages that make it a quite enigmatic film. Using a book given to Donnie, he gives clues that the world Donnie stars in is not what the viewer initially thinks. The film uses Donnie and the events of the story quite a bit to raise the point that everything that happens in the world is connected and therefore the events of the world are part of a grand scheme. That would imply that all the actions and decisions that human beings take are already planned and that destiny is what really controls our lives. What would be raised would be something compared to the Loki series that raises the idea that there is no free will and that we must all fulfill a destiny that has been implanted in us to maintain a universal order. Even according to the philosophy of The Matrix, the decision is an illusion and the paradox arises as to whether we can really control our destiny or are we only tools of a great scheme forged by destiny. Donnie questions what he has to do a lot and that makes you think about what consequences there could be in the universe if someone goes off their path, breaking the scheme that maintains universal order. The Butterfly Effect theory and even other time travel films raise the question of what things would be like if such important events had not occurred. The film also gives Donnie a savior role, turning him into an allegory for Jesus Christ and other martyrs whose sacrifices were essential to a cause. The mention of the movie "The Last Temptation of Christ" is also a key because of the plot it had. Like that film, Donnie Darko is a story about sacrifice and death as a necessary destiny for future events and for the universal scheme. In that aspect, the film has a biblical metaphor behind it. Another element that makes up this film is its allegory about adolescence and it is something that is reflected in Donnie when upon entering that stage, he asks himself many questions, reflects a lot, knows love and suffers this internal struggle about whether to fulfill his destination. Frank even becomes his guide of sorts and symbolizes the aggressive rebellion that many young people go through. It can be said that the film knows how to use Donnie to represent the psychology of young people and think about the kind of role that destiny has in store for them. It is not strange that it has some moments of cringe humor that are characteristic of teenagers. It can be concluded that Donnie Dark is another independent film with an unconventional plot that gives it a lot of resistance, although it leaves a couple of doubts to decipher. It is not a film that can be understood by those who do not take into account the aforementioned elements, but all the elements that characterize it are what make it an authentic cult film. It is not a film recommended for everyone, only for educated people and movie buffs. My final rating for this movie is an 8/10.

Upon awakening, Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) finds that he's been asleep in the middle of a secluded mountain road. It seems that Donnie regularly wanders out at night and sleeps in strange places. The night that he ends up on the neighborhood golf course, a stray jet engine crashes through Donnie's bedroom. He's saved by his odd behavior. Shortly after, we witness him hearing voices and having visions of an odd, evil-looking, bipedal, man-sized bunny. The voice begins giving him unusual suggestions, and Donnie slowly finds himself as the key player in a grand scheme.

Donnie Darko is an unusual film. It spans a number of genres and leaves itself wide open to interpretation. Quite a cult of hardcore fans has developed around it, and for those folks, the film is essentially immune to criticism and reinterpretation.

The biggest surprise to me was that the bulk of Donnie Darko is a realist drama. I had long heard about how strange the film was, and heard it described as being partially sci-fi (which it is) and horror (which it isn't if you ask me). It was supposedly a "reality-bender". I'm much more of a "genre" fan, and I much prefer fantasy, surrealism and absurdism to realism. My preconceptions were throwing me off of the film initially. The realist drama stuff seemed to drag on, and it made much of the film a hard sell. I loved the touches of weirdness, but they were too little, too far between--at least until I reached my personal interpretation of the film around the halfway mark.

The film is also odd in that it's so retro. At one point I double-checked the DVD box, thinking that Donnie Darko had to be a late 1980s film. Nope, 2001. Then I started thinking that writer/director Richard Kelly must have had the script in storage for 15 years. But that can't be the case, either, as his bio says he was born in 1975, and it's unlikely that he would have written Donnie Darko when he was 10 or 11. The film is mired in late 1980s pop-culture references, style and music. Realizing that Kelly was born in 1975 still makes this weird. He says on the new DVD commentary that he was following the clichéd advice to write what you know, and he knew school in the late 1980s. He wouldn't have even entered high school until 1989, so it seems odd that he would only know school in the late 1980s. The retro feel of the film was a bit artificial to me, although I enjoyed the way the pop music was integrated.

There were also some questionable performances for my tastes, including Drew Barrymore's, and some bizarre (but not bizarre enough) scenarios that I never quite figured out, such as why a gym teacher was showing motivational videos to a class sitting in desks.

But most fans of Donnie Darko tend to overlook the minutiae, even though it takes up most of the screen time. The hinge tends to be on the overall arc and the meaning of the film. If minutiae are dwelt on, it's usually concerning the "Philosophy of Time Travel" book, or some bit of dialogue that is thought to be clever, such as the Smurf discussion. The theme of the film is often said to be something like "possibilities", and the film is routinely interpreted as having a messianic subtext, as well as often being interpreted more literally, as a kind of sci-fi story. After I watched the film and it didn't quite pay off as I had been hoping, I was anxious to listen to the commentary and watch the documentaries. Kelly seemed to intend more of the literal, sci-fi interpretation of the film. That was disappointing, because interpreted that way, the most fascinating thing to me is that Kelly believes it even approaches coherency. The Philosophy of Time Travel material, which is a core of this interpretation, is arbitrary sounding gobbledy gook. It has nothing to do with time travel, and even less to do with philosophy. It's more a naïve attempt at something like a parallel universe, ala the multiverse interpretation of quantum mechanics (which tends to be nonsensical anyway).

To make matters worse, there is little attempt to integrate most of this material into the actual meat of the film--the sci-fi interpretation seems very "grafted on". Many of the actual scenes we witness aren't there to service the eventual interpretation of the film as a sci-fi story, but are there because it's some snippet of actual life that Kelly remembers or has thought about or had conversations similar to in the past, and he thinks it's clever or character developing. For me, this material was neither.

But my personal interpretation of the film made much more sense to me, and under it, I enjoyed it more. To me, Donnie Darko is just a depiction of a kid with schizophrenia (and this is even explicitly suggested, although Kelly seems to be overlooking or not mentioning the interpretation). Even the smallest details of the film make sense in this context. Schizophrenics hear voices. They can have visual, tactile and other sensory hallucinations. Some have delusions of grandeur, such as messiah/superhero complexes. They often feel alienated. Donnie mopes around, mumbling, fairly expressionless much of the time and has periodic emotional outbursts. He acts out in anti-social ways. He goes into semi-catatonic states. Even the end of the film makes more sense under this interpretation, as it can be seen as an intentional delusion that Donnie has created due to the relationship-oriented tragedy. He's fantasizing about things being different than they turned out. To me, the film has much more depth under this interpretation.

If you haven't seen Donnie Darko yet, you owe it to yourself to check it out. No matter your final verdict, it's an interesting, quirky film, and one that's sure to be talked about for a long time.

This is a film that crept up on me. It takes one time to sense the rhythms of this film and to accept the strange apparitions that dominate it. As the closing song, "Mad World," typifies, the central character can only accept his demons and, in doing so, have a scintilla of joy. This is about a different kind of altruism, unstuck in time, that some of us wish we could have. Donnie is a popular guy with all kinds of possibilities. He is loving, smart, and eccentric. His family has him seeing a psychiatrist because his actions due to misunderstood visions have caused him to act violently at times. They love him and want him so badly to sort things out. He finds a soul mate, but she has her own demons and never fully understands what is going on. I can't say much because a first time viewer needs to be kept completely in the dark. I would like to watch this again to see things unfold with foreknowledge. It's one of the most intriguing movies I've ever seen.

I know I'm in the minority here. I know that this movie is a cult classic and has gotten rave reviews; that's the reason I watched to begin with--well that and the fact I thought it was a time travel movie.

"Donnie Darko" was not my cup of tea. This is where I'm told I don't get it, it's too deep for me and then I'm called all kinds of pejoratives. This isn't the first movie that I opposed the majority on and it won't be the last.

I saw a dramatic unfolding of the life of a mentally disturbed teenager. And it seemed that every character was formed through the lenses of said character. Everyone was odd. Comically odd. From Donnie Darko down to Cherita Chen. And characters like Cherita Chen seemed purposeless. If that's appealing then color me unimpressed.

I know, this was a movie I didn't get and I'm fine with that. It was dark, the humor was strange, and in my opinion it lacked a true message.