As you can tell by my avatar and signature, this is my favorite movie of all-time. Like Fight Club two years before it, this is a film rich with memorable images, unforgettable characters, and repeatable lines. However, Gyllenhaal gives a performance unmatched by anyone in Fight Club. His dazed, wandering portrayal of Donnie, a teen warped by medication and high school, is one of the best in recent times. Frank, the six foot demonic rabbit (what a description!), is just cool when you first see him, but upon second glance, he's actually a very interesting and complex character. And a bunch of A and B list actors round out the supporting cast, all with memorable characters. A total cult hit, and an amazing film.

Again I have to seen this, everyone says its amazing.

I thought the movie was great, though a tad overrated I guess. I was completely confused but after reading some explanations, it made me like it a whole lot better.

- A-/B+

I loved this movie. I found myself beingh drawn very deeply into it. I tend to really feel movies and I really felt what Donnie was going through. Its an oddley moving and sad weird movie.

I have never seen this movie, but with all the talk, I think I will give it a look sometime in the near future.

I bought it after all the buzz about it and I have to admitt that I don't really found it that good. I'll watch it again´before I grade it.

A

Amazing movie, one of the best directing debuts ever. A truly amazing movie on so many levels. It is hard to put it in words, but it simply blew me away upon the first viewing.

Strange and confusing, but completely engrossing. An amazing film. A-

Why does everybody say this movie is so amazing? It's overrated as hell. The performances are quite good and the story is there but I just couldn't get into it that much. It was a good movie but I wouldn't see myself watching it very many times.

7/10 (B-)

I can understand why people hate it. It is quite confusing and you THINK you understand the movie, but then you find something else that proves you wrong. You have to watch it multiple times to really understand it. My "theory" is that the Deus Ex Machina, which are called the beings from the future, somehow caused the jet engine from an alternate universe to arrive in Donnie’s universe. That messed up and they need Donnie to fix their mistake. It gets more complicated. I really like this movie and I have seen it 12 times! I give it a 11/10!

Yeah probably need to update the Thread Directory (couldn't fine this masterpiece on it!).

I didn't think the movie was confusing, I thought it was for the most part, straight forward. I just think it was so hyped, it wasn't as good as people said it was.

When I first watched this movie, I was totally lost.

On the second viewing (and after a little explanation...), I liked it a lot.

After watching it a third time (months after the second viewing), it just seemed so... overrated. B

Vastly overated and till this day I would never understand why its even doing at the top 150 on imdb. I guess the hype is just started by a few elitist who werent too happy about the film's box office receipt and that they kept raving about the film till a whole plague of followers added it to their top 10 list. Seriously, it wasnt that interesting at all and time capsule stories have been told so many times through Back to the Future and Time Machine. If there were less goths in the internet, we probably would of easily let this movie disappear

I think I will try to play a joke on the internet and hire a few elitist to rave about the genious of Cabin Boy. In no time, you would suddenly see the emergence of Cabin Boy in about 25% of all the internet users top list. Why not since thats probably how Donnie Darko got started?
B-

That's about what happened to me. First and second viewing were always 8/10 (B+)'s but then it went down to a 7/10 (B-) to a third viewing.

I liked this movie alot, and its one of the more refreshing new takes on both sci-fi and drama in recent years. The comic moments are surreal, most of them having to do with Swayze and Donnie's little sister. His psychological space is surprisingly convincing, and because of that, we also fail to distinguish between the unreal and the real. In short, because we expect to see things through Donnie's eyes, we suspend disbelief at the proper moments. In retrospect, when we learn its sci-fi nature, and grapple with time travel, we need to reconsider if what we saw was his imagintation or actual warped events. And conversely, if we recognize his psychological space, we need to view warped events as though they are just his perception. Somehow, even with both narratives, the movie is never overwhelming, or heavy handed. Likewise the characters are very sympathetic, and fairly light. Excellent.

A-

I thought it was ambitious, had an effective, creepy tone, and was thoroughly engaging, but I found the end to amount to something far less intriguing than the film itself. Unlike, say, Mulholland Dr. where I actually sat there trying to piece things together, I only felt like shrugging off this film's time travel/giant bunny implications.

B

B

For now. I still need to read some explanations. I didn't get it much.

Well, it's my favorite movie ever! Everytime I watch it, I still feel the same. It is funny, sad, thrilling, mysterious and emotionally compelling. The performances are great! I loved every bit of it! The story is original and thought provoking. It's just a perfect movie, for me! A++

I thought it was a refreshing film! Everything about the film is just that - light handed and refreshing. The characters, the story, the direction.. all enjoyable, innovative, and interesting. I like how, at times, this movie can be so complicated, and at others be so light and surreal.

Highly recommended.

A-

Nice movie about time and parallel universum etc.....But I dont get what should be so fantastic about this movie?????
When you know "The Philosophy Of Time Travel" then its pretty clear what happens in the movie. If not you can not really understand what happens. I think they didnt give clear information in the movie to create a "mystery hype" to make money (see matrix movies part 2 and 3).


Maybe somebody will get some physics books and thats cool

So I give 6.5/7. ( but the real physics theories in the books are more fun. read them. Unfortunately noone will ever be able to proof them. )

Maybe you should see it less as a time travel movie (an aspect that I still find exceptional) and more as a very well-crafted teenage drama/family drama.

BJs Grade:

A+

pure genius, pure greatness, pure total awesomeness.