Review of Donnie Darko (2001) by Timothy A — 17 Jun 2015

Original, unique and full of amazing Scientific explanations Donnie Darko is a superb and very intriguing Science Fiction Drama film from director Richard Kelly. This movie is about a young boy name Donnie Darko who is a troubled young man and is having strange visions about the end of the world and as he starts to see more things he also soon sees Frank who he can only see and is also convincing him to commit a series of crimes and pranks.

I seriously loved this movie and the first time I watched it I was amazed by it. I know why this movie is so famous and why it gained a significant cult impact. This movie seriously has everything I basically describe it as Christopher Nolan meets Tim Burton.

What makes Donnie Darko a great film is that the movie is packed with loads of amazing and outstanding ideas and each of them worked without getting so messed up easily. Donnie Darko is smart, intriguing, weird in parts and often confusing but has a strong and accurate Scientific explanation thanks to the script from writer and director Richard Kelly and the film also felt that it was not only written by Richard Kelly himself it also felt as if the film was written also by Christopher Nolan and Tim Burton due to the film's accurate Scientific explanations.

The other good things I like about this film is that the movie is full of amazing and outstanding scenes that are very unique in the movie (The opening scene, Scenes with the creepy Frank the Bunny Man, Donnie Flooding the school and burning Jim Cunningham's house, Donnie insulting Jim Cunningham and the dramatic finale) and it seriously gives the film a diminishing quality and look at the same time.

The other good things about this film is that the whole movie also acts as a homage to the 80's and 90's Science Fiction movies plus the film is not only a Science Fiction film but it is also a Psychological Thriller with a lot of impressive overtones and an intriguing concept and themes.

The other things I also enjoyed about this film is that the movie is also full of outstanding songs from different singers like Tears For Fears, Gary Jules etc.... One of the other surprising things I like about this movie is that the film is full of impressive CGI effects since the movie was shot with a budget of 4 or 5 million dollars and every scene where the CGI was used is so amazing and stunning as well.

While the last things I like about this film is that the whole movie is a free spirit and Richard Kelly seriously does an amazing job with giving the film a free spirit look and the atmosphere is so glooming at the exact same time.

Now the acting is one of the reasons why this movie became so famous. The star studded casts gave the film a very good feel and look. Jake Gyllenhaal did an amazing job with his early and first performance in this movie along with his sister Maggie Gyllenhaal, The gorgeous and attractive Jena Malone did an amazing job with her performance in this film as Donnie's girlfriend Gretchen, Drew Barrymore also did an outstanding performance with her performance as Donnie's teacher.

James Duval did an amazing job with his performance as Frank The Bunnyman who is so creepy in a few parts and lastly the late Patrick Swayze delivers an outstanding performance as Jim Cunningham in one of his best performances to date since his early films in the 80's and all of the casts did an amazing job with their performances in the film so far.

Director Richard Kelly did an amazing job with his directional debut and first feature film. He created a visually stunning and gripping Science Fiction film that delivers a free spirit and a unique look.

The way he works on this film is full of free spirit and style at the same time and the result is that he created a very good and captivating movie with a sensitive execution. Overall Donnie Darko is a unique and amazing film that is very scientific and accurate at the same time and is worth a watch its a shame that Richard Kelly's next films suffered poorly and went down the drain.

This movie gets a 10.9/10.