The cult classic Donnie Darko is great at the beginning. It follows the story of a teen boy who tries to uncover the meanings of his dreams and visions of the supposed coming end of the world. The movie does so much right, but the questionable (to say the least) decisions the director made towards the end make this film sink in the ranks.
First the good: Darko has an absolutely intriguing opening sequence that is so strange yet so well done as some parts speed up and slow down very subtly, cueing the viewer in that something strange is going on with time, a big part of the rest of the movie. The movie does a great job of making the viewer ponder over Donnie's sanity throughout the film and whether or not his visions are schizophrenic hallucinations or his experiences with supernatural forces leading up to the conclusion. Darko has some great cross-genre action going for it, with the teen drama/romance on one end, which was really well-done and interesting to watch, and the supernatural aspect with Donnie and his interactions in his visions. Jake Gyllenhaal is surprisingly great in one of his big breakthrough roles, and so is his real-life sister playing his character's sister. The titular character is a comfortably complex and relatable character, although his name sounds like that of a superhero, as his love interest points out. His struggles and actions make you root for him as a person, I'd probably be friends with him (though I would keep my distance). As Donnie gets closer and closer to the important day, he learns more and more about what it means and his situation in general, as well as some good lessons about teenage love and fears. This is where the movie goes downhill. There is just some looming feelings I have about this movie that are bringing me more and more to dislike it, especially the freakin' ending.
The Infuriating: I absolutely hate when a movie makes an ending so complex that it alters the viewer's perspective of the entire story, and in this case I had to go online and spend half-an-hour reading fan theories about how the "universes" of the movie get all jangled and screwed up and exactly how and why our protagonist is at the center of it. Which makes me sad, because the movie had some great things going for it. It just comes to a conclusion somewhat abruptly and is so gosh darn confusing I have no idea how someone is supposed to just 'get it' and enjoy it on the first view. After researching critics' responses, they seemed to agree with me in that aspect, but they also said that the film is heavily improved by the director's cut.
Ah, Director's Cuts, you love them or you hate them. Why would the studio wanted to make the film hella confusing and take out a bunch of stuff that gave the viewer a clue about what was actually going on throughout the whole movie? I don't have the answer and neither does Wikipedia. But, when the Director's Cut was released with 20 minutes of extra footage and specifically, text from the time travel book that Donnie uses to realize his situation is actually shown, the viewers can realize the bigger picture of Donnie's story (along with him), and that alone raised the critical consensus.
So, because of the discrepancies, I don't think it is fair to rate Donnie Darko until I have seen the Director's Cut, or at least watch it again with some of the fan theories in mind. Some modern fans have hailed it as their favorite, so I am reluctant to give it a score, but as of now, the theatrical cut of Donnie Darko gets
7/10 Tangent Universe Theories
Always a pleasure to read your reviews, Alex, and I really like what you say about DD. I agree, there's a little too much manipulation going on. I also read a lot about the movie after I watched it. I've probably seen the film 2-3 times, and honestly, I still hardly even remember any of the intricacies. Keep up the good work!
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