Donnie Darko

[Derf]

I finally saw this movie a couple of days ago. I know it's been talked about here, so I won't review it. I just had to say that Drew Barrymore does the worst job I think I have ever seen of someone "acting" like an intelligent, thoughtful English teacher. She obviously learned all she knows about intelligent, thoughtful teachers from watching movies rather than from any classroom experience. Granted, her character was minor and therefore underdeveloped, but she simply does not have the "look" nor the voice of a sharp-witted, insightful person. The rest of the characters were well cast. But she should not have been there. I don't hate her or wish I'd never see her again, but what were they thinking when they put her in this role?

[Mr_Vindictive]

Barrymore was one of the producers of the flick, that's the only way she could have gotten the part.

So, what exactly did you think of the film?  Like it, hate it?

[Fearless Freep]

I didn't like it.  It seemed like the writer/director went for atmosphere over substance.  Like "we don't really know what it means but we'll just be strange and everyone will look for the meaning" and then the controversery and confusion creates buzz for the movie and fills in for the lack of real creativity on the part of the filmakers.  I thought they were trying to be clever, but you can't set out to try to be clever, you have to be clever first and work from that.  I don't think it was nearly as clever as they wanted it to be/hoped it would be/people wanted it to be/people thought it was. I remember watching it and thinking at the end "You've got to be kidding...that's it?!  The writer wrote himself in a corner and didn't really know what to do hoped by throwing some ambiguity up there that people would fill in the rest for him and he would look smart"

[nobody]

I'm right there with you, Fearless Freep. I thought "Donnie Darko" was one of those movies that had no point whatsoever and relied on the audience to fill in the holes with outlandish guesses and wild assumptions.

As for Drew Barrymoore, she's never believable in any acting role she takes, unless it's a spoiled, rich, annoying waste-of-space... but that's not acting. That's realism. Perhaps if I found her attractive like the rest of the world seems to, I wouldn't be so judgemental. Maybe it's my fault. :)

[Derf]

************* Some Spoilers ******* (like I'm not the last one to see this...)

I bought the movie on my brother's recommendation; we usually have similar tastes. He said it was one you had to watch several times to get everything out of it. I don't know yet whether I'll watch it again. It posed a few interesting ideas, but, as has been said, it depends on the audience to take those ideas and run with them. I like the way Donnie "discovers" time travel, and the looping nature of the jet engine travelling back in time mixed with the ghost of Frank from the future. But ultimately, it didn't seem as deep as it thought it did. In part, I blame the writers, but, in a strange way, I would also blame myself and my expectations. I'd read good things about the movie here and heard them from my brother, so my expectations were reasonably high. That contributed to my disappointment. Also, I think I'd already gone over that general territory after Back to the Future; I drove everyone around me nuts with the looping argument that if Marty had gone back in time and changed history so that he didn't exist, he would never have existed to go back in time to change history, so history wouldn't have been changed, so he'd exist to go back in time to change history (ad infinitum, ad nausea...). This movie does the same thing; just substitute Donnie for Marty. It's noble of Donnie to go back and let himself be killed to save his girlfriend (and Frank), but it would ultimately loop around again: if he dies in one loop, he wouldn't in another, and everyone gets a headache from dancing the Time Travel Polka [breaks into oompah song and dances off to bang head against padded walls.].

[dean]

Did you watch the director's cut version or the normal?

I've seen both, and whilst there isn't really that much different, they do at least attempt to explain the time travel thing a bit more in that version.

I quite enjoyed Donnie Darko, if not for the use of the phrase 'f**k ass' [excuse me] and Patrick Swayze's character and his 'hobbies'.  [sorry but they were funny moments to me]

On top of that, Frank freaked me out a bit, which is always good.

Personally, although I'm sure this is not the case, I have a different take on the film than one about time travel.  It solves [for me] a lot of the headaches one can endure when trying to figure out time travel.

Personally, after watching it the first time [I have since decided to be undecided] I figured that the whole movie was in Donnie's head, and is what is going through his mind as he gets crushed by the engine.  A way of accepting what happend in those few moments between life and death, and justifying that he must die as opposed to not.  Although I am sure this isn't the direction the director was going for, but hey, it suits my frame of mind.

[Dunners]

I actually stayed away from this movie. it didnt catch my interest then or now and I still cant get over how blatantly retarded the films title is. "Donnie Darko"

Thats gotta be one of the dumbest names for a character to have in my own humbl eopinion. Why not Don Dark, or Darek Dark? Something that at least sounds quasi serious, the name Donnie Darko sounds like the name of a drug addicted pimp, or a cartoon character.

And then there was the films tagline...a which was much worse. A penny for anyone who remembers what it was :P

[Mofo Rising]

I have to interject with a dissenting opinion.  I really enjoyed DONNIE DARKO.

First let me say that I love movies that are puzzles to be figured out.  I also enjoy movies that question reality, or at least the reality of the movie in question.  David Lynch, Terry Gilliam, Philip K. Dick (books, I know). . . all some of my favorites.  So it's a genre I'm predisposed to like.

The difference between this puzzle of a movie, and other puzzle movies, like PRIMER, is that the primary mover in DONNIE DARKO is mood and theme.  The theme of DONNIE DARKO isn't hard to figure out.  It's teenage angst.  That's the first thing I thought when the movie was over: "Finally, a movie about teenage angst that doesn't completely suck."  To focus on the actual logistics of the central mystery and mechanics of the movie is to miss the point.  A lot of David Lynch movies are the same.  You can sense that there is an answer to all the questions the movie brings up, but if you focus on the answers above all else you lose the basis of the movie.  It's the mood that's important.

Which of course sounds completely stupid, but most cinema sounds stupid when you try to break it down.

A lot of the criticisms mentioned are valid of course.  If all you care about is the resolution of the "mystery" of the movie, you will be disappointed.  There is simply not enough information presented on screen during the movie.  There is an answer, but it's almost impossible to figure out without going over all the supplementals to the movie, a cheap way to do things in my opinion.  Drew Barrymore is not now, nor will probably ever be, a very good actress, but her involvement is a big part of the reason the movie got made and distributed.  There's a reason for Donnie Darko's name, but it is also pretty stupid.

The biggest reason to dislike this movie?  All the dumb kids who will tell you how "trippy" this movie is.  But who cares?  Watch the movie on its own merit and don't listen to what other people tell you.  If you don't like it, well, I don't really care.  I had a hell of a time watching it and have recommended it to other people.

I'd also like to hear Kevin Smith's commentary on the director's cut, but mostly because I think movie commentaries by people who had nothing to do with the movie should be more prevalent.

[Mr_Vindictive]

Mofo sums it up for me.  I absolutely love Donnie Darko, mainly because I gave up on trying to solve the puzzle.  Now, I watch the film and enjoy it without trying to analyze every scene.

My opinion though about the puzzle is the same as Dean's.  I feel it's "An Occurance At Owl Creek Bridge" type of thing where it all happened in Donnie's mind in the split second before his death.  

And, the film is one of the most quotable to come out in years:

Kitty Farmer: "No. Duh is a product of fear."

Jim Cunningham: "Son... DO YOU SEE THIS? This is an Anger Prisoner. A textbook example. DO YOU SEE THE FEAR, PEOPLE? This boy is scared to death of the truth. Son, it breaks my heart to say this, but I believe you are a very troubled and confused young man. I believe you are searching for the answers in all the wrong places..."
Donnie: "You're right, actually. I am pretty- I'm, I'm pretty troubled and I'm, I'm pretty confused. But I. . .and I'm afraid. Really, really afraid. Really afraid. But I... I... I think you're the f**king Antichrist."

Gretchen: "My mom had to get a restraining order against my step dad. He has emotional problems."
Donnie: "Oh, I have those too! What kind does your step dad have?"
Gretchen: "He stabbed my mom four times in the chest."
Donnie: "Oh."


And my all time favorite:
Student 1: Mom said the school is closed today because it's flooded, and there's feces everywhere!
Student 2: What are feces?
Student 1: Baby mice.
Student 2&3: Awwww.

[dean]

>>> It's the mood that's important.

Yup, that's why most of my favourite scenes have nothing to do with the main 'plot' although I enjoyed the creepy moments via Donnie stabbing the mirror with a knife and such.

And I loved that Jim Cunningham/Donnie Darko exchange Skaboi mentioned.  Very funny.

[Derf]

I did enjoy many parts of the movie, including some of the scenes mentioned. It just struck me that the writers/director thought they were doing something much deeper than what came across on screen, to me at least. As I said, I haven't decided yet whether I'll watch it again, but there is a possibility; I also still haven't talked with my brother to see what captured his imagination about it. I can see why some people might love this movie; I can also see why others would see it as pointless or pretentious. I'm somewhere in the middle. There are some very good scenes, but there are also some very bad ones. Drew Barrymore was horribly miscast, so all her scenes were awful. I didn't buy Patrick Swayze's character, but it was perfectly in line with many other "gurus" from the '80s, so I'm willing to suspend my disbelief for him. I realize it's part of the whole "teenage angst" theme that the parents and teachers don't understand Donnie's obviously common-sense answers, but I get a little tired of that; yes, there are a phenomenal number of idiots in the world, but not all of them are teachers, and most teachers I know understand teenage mentality much better than the teenagers themselves (sorry to interject reality into fiction, but the theme is overdone). I liked the rabbit/ghost; it was appropriately creepy. Sparkle Motion was appropriately cheesy for the '80s; I liked them. The "twist" ending was a little too M. Night Shyamalan style for me, and that is the main reason I'm not sure I'll watch it again. Once you know the twist, the suspense/surprise is harder to maintain.

[LH-C]

I remember my sister renting the theatrical cut a few years ago, but I didn't watch it. I don't know if I'll ever see it because of 99.9% of the stuff I've seen Jake Gyllenhaal in, he just irritates the hell out of me (the same way Jared Leto does). The only thing I've like him in is the one ep of Homicide he was in that his dad Stephen (who is a great director BTW) directed back in early 1994. Robin Williams played his dad.