Donnie Darko Review

Donnie Darko is the quintessential example of a hidden gem that flopped in the box office, only to pick picked up post-mortem by a set of rabid fans who are devoted to it in a way that rivals most other fandoms. This 2001 film starring Jake Gyllenhaal was released to entirely underwhelming reception at the box office. But over the years it has gathered a cult following.

Okay, bear with me here while I explain the concept. Donnie Darko is set in the 1980 in the small town of Middlesex, Massachusetts. It follows Donnie Darko, the titular character, as he starts to deal with the “interesting” circumstances around him. He begins seeing visions of a man dressed in a bunny suit, telling him that the world will end, and urging him to commit less than legal acts in order to save the town, and ultimately, the entire world. As the movie goes on, you begin to question Donnie’s sanity. The movie challenges you to question whether or not what Donnie is seeing is really happening, or if it is all in his head. He frequently visits a psychiatrist, and takes an unknown medication prescribed to him by the doctor. But the film is more than that. it’s part teen comedy, part teen angst, part love story, and part science fiction to warp your mind and challenge your world view. Yeah, that’s the scope of the movie in question.

And this movie is particularly special for one reason that turns a lot of people away from it. There is very little here that is concrete or explicitly explained to the viewer. While the story is followable, by the end of my first viewing, while I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, I didn’t really know what happened at all. So I let it sit in my brain for a while, before watching it again almost a month later. And then I watched it again. And again. Each time, I noticed new things, and I slowly pieced together my own theory about what really happened. And that’s one wonderful thing about it: everyone will interpret the movie differently. This leads to great discussions, and I’ve had a few that changed the way I saw scenes in the movie.

But, theories aside, the movie is a masterpiece of the medium. Richard kelly, the director, weaved symbolism and tiny details into the movie so deep that it took me three viewings to notice them. The themes of time, destiny, God, and the impermanence of our lives are all handled not only tastefully, but subtly enough to not be glaring, and significant enough to reward any who analyze the film enough to notice them.

And the soundtrack by Michael Andrews and Gary Joules is the mellow icing on this haunting, beautiful cake. With an eclectic mix of odd synthesizer drones and piano melodies that excel in their simplicity, it’s a soundtrack that almost rivals the film itself. And the excellent cover of Mad World by Tears for Fears ends the movie on note strong enough to affect me for hours after I watched the film.

While this isn’t a movie for everyone, I can’t help but rave on about this movie. And, while it might not appeal to your sensibilities, if it does, it will grip you in a way that no other movie can. It’s the type of movie that only gets better the more times you watch. It’s the type of movie that sticks in your brain and keeps drawing your thoughts back to it for months to come. It’s available to stream on Netflix right now, so there’s no excuse for you not to watch this underrated masterpiece.

~ by ryuk003 on June 12, 2014.