Donnie Darko Film Review

There are some films that are hard to put into any one genre of film as they could very easily fit into quite alot of them. With the film that i'm going to be talking to you all about today being one such film as even tho it's classed as being a  science fiction psychological thriller it could also be a drama or a dark comedy with this film also being one that i've been looking forward to seeing just due to the legacy that the film leaves behind which does include and apparently really bad direct to DVD sequel film and so then join me as I review the film that features an appearance from a very young Seth Rogan with the film in question being called simply just "Donnie Darko" enjoy.

The ploy of the film is when a teenager gets told that the world will end in twenty eight days he lives his life as normal as he could possibly do. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good as even tho it's hard to work out alot of the time what the actual plot of the film is meant to be that's the point of the film as the film is being told from the point of view of someone who is not mentally well and therefor things for him will seem disjointed and out there much like how they are presented here in this film with that being something that does work well within the context of the film it does however make the film really hard to describe to people as no matter how you describe it your going to either make the film sound really dull and boring or just end up confusing the person that your describing the plot of the film to in the first place and while it would have worked really well if the plot of this film did explain things a bit more that would in this case go against the oddly unsettling nature and spirit of the film as we the audience much like Donnie himself aren't really meant to know what's going on and the fact that people all of these years later are still talking about this film does go to show you that this films plot did connect with alot of people with the plot of this film being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this film is Jake Gyllenhaal as Donnie Darko , Holmes Osborne as Eddie Darko and Maggie Gyllenhaal as Elizabeth Darko. Also starring in this film is Daveigh Chase as Samantha Darko , Mary McDonnell as Rose Darko , James Duval as Frank The Rabbit / Frank Anderson , Arthur Taxier as Dr. Tad Fisher , Patrick Swayze as Jim Cunningham , David St. James as Bob Garland , Jazzie Mahannah as Joanie James , Seth Rogen as Ricky Danforth , Jolene Purdy as Cherita Chen , Stuart Stone as Ronald Fisher , Gary Lundy as Sean Smith , Alex Greenwald as Seth Devlin , Beth Grant as Kitty Farmer , Jena Malone as Gretchen Ross , David Moreland as Principal Cole , Noah Wyle as Dr. Kenneth Monnitoff , one of this films producers Drew Barrymore as Karen Pomeroy , Kristina Malota as Susie Bates , Marina Malota as Emily Bates , Carly Naples as Suzy Bailey , Tiler Peck as Beth Farmer , Patience Cleveland as Roberta Sparrow , Katharine Ross as Dr. Lillian Thurman , Lisa K. Wyatt as Linda Connie , Rachel Winfree as Shanda Riesman , Jack Salvatore Jr. as Larry Riesman , Lee Weaver as Leroy , Phyllis Lyons as Anne Fisher and Ashley Tisdale as Kim.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With all of this films actors turning in some really good performances which is both surprising an yet at the same time not all that surprising it's surprising in that alot of this films actors are a bunch of really good actors in there own right and so they of course would turn in some really good performances in this film but at the same time it's still surprising because of the fact that when this film was being made and released were very little known to in some cases unknown actors and therefor it would have been completely foolish to expect good or even great performances from any of this films actors and yet that's somehow what we still get from this film is nearly all of this films actors really do bring there A game to this film with perhaps the only few exceptions being Jazzie Mahannah and Jolene Purdy to name but a very small very who despite them turning in some really good performances in there own right there just not as good as the rest of this films actors are with the best actor in this film being Jake Gyllenhaal as Donnie Darko as he really does capture the spirit of the character perfectly and manage to make what could very easily have been seen as being this really unlikable character and yet make him likable with the acting that's in this very film really being helped by the fact that this films script is just so good that all this films actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.

Where this film does somewhat shine a little it more better is in it's characters as the film does have some truly memorable characters. Be it from any member of the Darko family to even Frank The Rabbit himself there's alot of characters in this film that people are going to either like or remember long after the film has finished and while the makers of this film don't really take the time that they really should have done to fully flesh out any of it's characters it could also be argued that due to the time span in which the film takes place that that's kind of the idea of the film as this is just meant a quick snapshot into the life of Donnie Darko and therefor not all of the characters will be that well developed but at the same time tho it would have helped the film all the more if the time was taken to fully flesh out the characters like maybe the makers of this film could have given each of the characters a different personality in the timeline that Donnie lives out compared to how they are in the final few scenes of the film as that would then not only flesh out the characters but it would also make us the audience question what was real as well much like what they did in Joker with the Arthur and Sophie romance it also would have helped this film all the more if alot more of the characters that Donnie interacts with genuinely act like that they want to help him as even tho we are seeing this film from his point of view and therefor if he sees a character as being unlikeable then that's what they are but given that Donnie is meant to be this mentally unwell person it would have been interesting to see those unlikable characters also being presented as characters that could also be considered likable as well.

To be frank Frank himself is the only thing that really does make this film feel like a horror film as he is genuinely creepy character. However even he isn't enough to make this film feel like a horror film as while he does have a creepy voice and what might be a homemade rabbit suit that's all he has but that's the great thing about this film as that you can see it being many different genre's of film and you'd still be valid with the Frank character being something that does make the film standout as while he is yes a horror themed character no ones going to dispute that claim but at the same time he's not the one doing all of these bad things Donnie himself is doing all of them with Frank just being the one to tell him to do it and while it could have worked if the film when into more detail about who Frank The Rabbit is and where he came from it oddly enough makes the film a bit more creepier and bit more mysterious by not revealing any of those things as then our imagination could take over and make him even more creepier and make him to be more of this mythical figure that may or may not be real in the first place and that does make him better then if we did find out more about him as even tho we only really find out that his real name is Frank Anderson that's all we get to find out about his character and that's all we should ever get to find out about him as the more that we find out about him the less creepier that he becomes and while he still would be a truly standout character due to the fact that he's in alot of really memorable scenes that doesn't mean that we need to find out all that more about him as sometimes knowing less about a character makes them more impactful as a character as is the very case with this film.

What makes this film very hard to review is the very thing that makes it that much of a good watch as you never really know what's going to happen in the film. Much like how you don't know anything that's really going on in the film either which is something that does make it a tough film to review as it means that you can't really criticize it as the things that your talking about could also be one of the main points of the film but at the same time tho this is a film that isn't immune from criticism tho as the film does have plenty of things that do work against it like the fact that the film can be hard to follow and that the characters aren't that well developed both of which could be seen as being part of what gives the film it's charm but at that doesn't mean that they fully work with the film either as the film would have more people enjoying it if it was alot more easier to follow and while the people do still to this very day talk about the film there aren't alot of people recommending the film to people because of how hard to follow that it is and with the films characters not being that well developed that's something that doesn't really need to be fixed as again this is something that could be seen as being part of the films charm it also makes the characters hard to route for as the film doesn't really give us a reason to care for any of it's characters like why should we care for Donnie and why should we want to see him survive at the end of these twenty eight days this is somethin that the makers of this film should have made us want to do and yet they don't and while again this is might part of what gives the film it's charm it is also something that does work against the film as well.

This film does somewhat use time travel in that even tho Donnie himself doesn't technically travel backwards or even forwards in time it is mentioned all throughout the film and is used as key element in the film. Which doesn't really make alot of sense as the time travel event is said to have started back when the planes engine first crashed through Donnie's bedroom near the start of the film when he awoke at the local gold course yet if he did time travel meaning just in time and not in space as well then surely he would have ended up in his own bedroom either just before or just after the plane's engine crashed into his bedroom but because the movie needs to happen it brushes over this little aspect with it being more then hinted that he instead travelled to an alternate universe one in which he only survived the plane crash but thrived because of it with him somehow being warned that it's going to happen which is something that is explained as it happen through his dreams with him only really coming back to our dimension at the end of the film when the plane crash happens again only this time it does kill him which is a solid way to use time travel even tho it is kind of a confusing way to use it as surely he should have gone around warning people that this huge incident is going to happen and yet he doesn't he just goes about his normal day to day life with the element of time travel being used in this way feeling more like an afterthought as it's something that barely gets brought up and when they do bring it up it only makes it more confusing and even more harder to follow along with then what it is in the first place.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly two hours and thirteen minuets and fifty three seconds. Which to be fair to this film is a perfectly solid running time for this film to have as the film does have more then enough plot there to cover that amount of running time the issues is however is that this film really doesn't use it's running time all that wisely as even tho this could be a the point that the film is trying to make but that the plot of this film isn't well developed with it feeling that the characters are actively ignoring the threat that is right on there doorstep and instead just living out there normal day to day lives which is something that should have been fixed with a rewrite of the films script as then the plot of the film could be made to be more focused on and developed as well with even the films characters not being that well developed either as apart from a few characters we don't get to see what Donnie's relationship is like with quite alot of them which might seem like a small thing at first but it becomes a big thing when the entire ending of the film has a montage of them waking up and not remembering who Donnie is something that would have been all the more impactful if the makers of this film took the time that they already had to fully develop it's characters and while this review is being more based off of the directors cut of the film and not the theatrical cut there surely can't be that much of a difference when it comes to the development of the films main characters and it's plot as those are issues that could have been fixed with a rewrite of the films script but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is a drama that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual drama that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual drama that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With there being plenty of goo drama to be found all over this film being it Donnie's slow decent into madness from the dreams with Frank to the drama coming from any of the other characters bottom line there's plenty of good drama to be found in this film and all of it works really well and while I personally refer to this film as a drama that doesn't mean that it is as you very well could easily refer to this film as being a horror film and it would make total sense as this film could be either or both of those genres plus many more at the exact same time and it would totally make sense with the best bit of drama coming from the films third act when Donnie and some friends are racing against time to find a character nicknamed "Grandma Death" so that she can fully explain to them what Donnie is going through only for that plan to fall apart when Gretchen is accidentally killed by getting hit by a car whose driver is revealed to be Frank Anderson something which then spurs Donnie to kill him thus also killing Frank The Rabbit but the drama doesn't stop there ho as it carries on all the way to the end with the only way to bring Gretchen back is for Donnie to let he himself get killed by the plane engine as that would undo the past twenty eight days thus saving Gretchen in the process and while the rest of the films drama is just as good it just can't hold a candle to the drama found in this films third act in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall it's really not that hard to see what the hype is surrounding this film as when this film is very easy to follow to understand it can be a really good film but at the same time tho the fact that it's not easy to follow along does encourage more discussion about the film as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review that really does mean that this very film really foes earn itself a grand old score of exactly an 8 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images hat I personally used in this very review from IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images really from this very film being the really great Google Images this is really because of the fact that really all of the images that I really indeed got and really used from Google Images are all really high quality really with all of the images that really are all and of course really currently up and on the really great and the really solid Google Images really are all being really fairly high in quality and as well as them all really being fairly high in definition.