Donnie Darko (2001)
Added: 12/29/07
Author: The Vocabulariast
Donnie Darko… huh… not much of a fan of it. That’s not to say that the film isn’t one of the most complex orchestrations of cinema and depth that I’ve ever seen, it’s just not my bag. Despite the film’s legions of loyal fans, there are still a large amount of flaws contained within the film, mostly due to the complexities of the subject matter.
The film, at its simplest, is just plain hard to explain. We start off with a little girl lying in the road in her pajamas. It turns out that this little girl is actually a boy named Donnie Darko. Well, will wonders never cease? The film unfurls like a penis in the dark and you’re never quite sure what’s going on until Darko’s got his thumb up your ass and you’re muttering things about tangent universes, bunnies, and time travel. That’s not to say that the film is completely unintelligible, because it’s not. It’s logic is firmly placed and the jargon that the film immerses itself in can be confusing at times, necessitating the need for multiple viewings… but uhhh, I’ve had enough of that little man-girl for now.
Richard Kelly’s first feature length film is an ambitious piece of work. The skill with which Kelly orchestrates the film is impressive, even if he oversteps his own boundaries in a few places with much pointless imagery and some scenes that are unnecessary and only beneficial if you’ve got a hard-on for listening to director’s explain their work on commentary tracks. If the scene can’t stand on its own without an explanation from the director, then it doesn’t belong in the movie. Still, I do appreciate the depth and intellectual nature of the film and especially the fact that Kelly never takes pains to explain the meaning of the film with needless exposition. Unfortunately, having scenes that need to be explained creates a red herring effect for people trying to comprehend the meaning of the film, supplying a feeling of being cheated or tricked that is unwanted as the majority of the flick is genius.
The acting in the film is ok, but it’s not the acting of the film that is special. Jake Gyllenhaal is serviceable as Donnie Darko, the film’s troubled main character who is charged with saving the world. Certainly, Gyllenhaal’s craft has improved over the last few years, as his performance is uneven throughout the film. The rest of the cast features a variety of recognizable faces doing run of the mill jobs. No one stands out, except for the amazing James Duval (SLC Punk!, May)… of course, I just think Duval is a great actor and if hard-pressed I might even crack and say that he was just as average as everyone else in the film… but no one has the powers to make me say that. I am unbreakable!
The trouble with Donnie Darko is this: Are the people that love it as smart as they seem, or are they simply people that read the liner notes? It’s one thing to innately comprehend the stuff that Richard Kelly throws up on the screen; it’s an entirely different beast to sit down and read the liner notes. Is the reality of the film different from the director’s vision? In the end, Donnie Darko is an amazing achievement that is as intellectually stimulating as it is well orchestrated, instead of running to the director’s commentary and reading about it on websites, one should sit back and try and comprehend the film on its own. Authorial intent is perhaps the biggest fallacy in the world. If I intended to write a film about the redemption of a hooker with a mouthful of herpes sores and all I wrote on a piece of paper was the word “poop,” then how accurate are my thoughts about the work in the first place. In this way, Donnie Darko has my respect… even though the played-out time travel stuff is complete garbage and I’d like to shove Gyllenhaal’s little girl face in an operating garbage disposal.
Final Synopsis: Truly one of the more creative and complex films of the last decade. There are some loose ends and some scenes that don’t stand on their own without some sort of explanation which is always an annoying occurrence. Give the film a watch or maybe two and develop your own interpretation. Good times.
