Donnie Darko (***)
review by Jon Waterman

Donnie has problems.  Big problems.  His classmates find him weird.  He isn’t too great with the ladies.  A jet engine fell on his house.  And a giant bunny is telling him that the world’s going to end in just 28 days and change.

Well, what can I say about this movie?  I went into this film knowing nothing more than a couple of my friends liked it and it starred the kid from “Bubble Boy.”  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I found it gripping, intriguing and all the other words you can find in the thesaurus that mean the same.

Richard Kelly is the man to thank for this.  He is the first time director and writer behind “Darko.”  You just got to love those rookies that come out with a movie that makes you anxious to see the next one.  The script is intelligent, very well thought out and terribly cryptic.  Now, about the characters…

Donnie (played by Jake Gyllenhaal, “October Sky”) is an odd little lead.  Not quite sure whether to embrace him and try to empathize or just distance yourself and try to find someone else to connect with.  Then there’s the girl, the “love interest.”  Gretchen (played by Jena Malone).  We hardly know what this girl is all about, despite the information we’re given.  I’m not sure if it’s a script thing or an acting thing or if that’s the way it’s supposed to be.  We have the parents (Holmes Osborne and Mary McDonnell) that I would have loved to have seen more of.  The rest of the characters seemed pretty damn two-dimensional, which actually is fine by me.  This isn’t a PT Anderson epic, after all.  However, I do believe that Mr. Kelly is capable of producing such an epic were he to try.

The film deals greatly with the subject of time travel.  Basically I’m saying get ready to open your mind a little bit and start thinking.  This isn’t a “Back to the Future” type of film.  You’ll be quizzed on the material later.

So, to recap:  I loved the movie.  I loved watching the ending and being forced to think about things.  I loved learning about a new director who obviously cares about film and puts thought into his projects.  I’m curious as to what he could do with something he didn’t write.  I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.  As for now, I’m going to go to sleep and hope the darkness and depression that can come from this movie doesn’t consume me or give me nightmares.  What a great closing line.  See this movie.

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