Review of Donnie Darko (2001) by Stephen P — 17 Feb 2015

Donny Darko is one of the more unique and original mystery thrillers that you can find. This movie had you completely clueless and puzzled right from the get go, and the longer this movie went on, the more confused I became. In a way, this was one of the things I liked the most about the movie but it was also one of the things I didn't like. The fact that it was so puzzling got me on the edge of my seat for almost the entire time trying to make sense of what what happening whilst trying to figure out what will happen next, this made me very interested and invested in the story trying to be told. But then the bad part about that was that it got a little too confusing and mind bending so that at many points I had no idea what the plot was and just what exactly I was trying to realise. It was definitely an experience like no other with many hidden messages and clues that try to give you explanations about what is going on and why or how.

As well as the directing, this movie would not have been as effective without the stellar performance by Jake Gyllenhaal as Donnie Darko. He manages to capture both the kind and regular school kid side and the dark and almost evil side so well that you are just amazed by the character whenever he is on screen. Through this role I can totally see why he got the role as Lou Bloom in the more recent film Nightcrawler. He seems to be able to play this type of character so well that every time you forget it is Gyllenhaal. His performance was the standout as the many other performances were still good but lacked the spark that Gyllenhaal could bring to the role. The overall pace of the film was quite slow and I felt could have been sped up a little at certain points but I can understand why the director decided not to after spending some time thinking about the significance of certain events. With a very intriguing scenario and lead character, this movie will not fail to get you confused and thinking about it for days. - 7.9.