Donnie Darko

This intellectually stupid trend never ceases to fascinate me. As soon as there is a movie with supernatural phenomena, told non-linearly, and, God forbid, with a conclusion without a rational explanation, the world falls into mass hysteria and this place is crawling with full-fledged ratings like ants in an anthill. If I were to see this crap again, they will probably have to take me to the hospital for boredom and lack of originality poisoning. Richard Kelly relies purely on bespectacled intellectuals, who latch on like wasps to candy, and he couldn't care less that this totally disjointed film offers absolutely no rational explanation or meaning (similarly to Lynch, for example). And it's no wonder when it feels that way. A first-class muddled mess without a point. Two stars for a well-portrayed family and Mary McDonnell's performance. (12/06/2008)

Interesting film. Above all, Donnie Darko has a fascinating atmosphere and I don’t even mind that I didn’t quite get everything. I actually doubt it has only one right explanation, I think it’s one of those films that has to be experienced emotionally rather than understood rationally. For the time being, an uncertain 4 stars (I don’t know whether strong or weak), but I might change my opinion when I find time to rewatch it. (11/09/2008)

An unorthodox story about a high school “geek" is an impressive movie adorned with excellent acting, a well-written and original screenplay and a completely absorbing dense atmosphere. Despite all of this I can’t shake the feeling that from the whole movie somehow protrudes the fact that it could be a tiny bit better than it finally is. I would be very interested in seeing the twenty minutes longer Director’s Cut. If that’s good, I would definitely raise the score to five *. (14/03/2005)

Hypnotic, captivating, and unclassifiable in genre. It contains sharp satire, elusive sci-fi, and playful originality, yet I cannot convey Donnie to an unfamiliar viewer. It completely deviates from the norm in scenes with the rabbit, excellently builds up the ending, and above all, shows for the first time that Jake Gyllenhaal truly has talent. An unforgettable, although far from flawless experience. (25/01/2006)

The execution is excellent, but Kelly's storytelling is somehow unyielding. The constant unravelling of new and new mysteries and some good ideas (the scary bunny is brilliant) make it very nice to watch, but in the finale there's a bit of a feeling of over-complication and many of the themes simply fizzle out. An example of what an extremely skilful directorial touch can do with a script that is not quite polished. (21/03/2012)