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Donnie Darko
EMAILPRINTNewmarket Film Group
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 21 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 313 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Sci-fi
Written by: Richard Kelly
Directed by: Richard Kelly
Release Date:
Theatrical: October 26, 2001
DVD: March 19, 2002
Running Time: 122 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for language, some drug use and violence
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Mary McDonnell, Drew Barrymore, Noah Wyle, Patrick Swayze, and Katharine Ross
A genre-busting fable that blasts the American suburban drama into a wildly imaginative realm of time travel, alternative universes and the manipulation of one's fate. (IFC Films)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut Southland Tales
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
New Times (L.A.) Jean Oppenheimer
Like gathering storm clouds, Donnie Darko creates an atmosphere of eerie calm and mounting menace -- stands as one of the most exceptional movies of 2001.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Kelly, the 26-year-old writer-director of this excitingly original indie vision, shares more artistically with Wes Anderson or Paul Thomas Anderson than he does with Spielberg or John Hughes, but the point is, he's out on his own here. He swings big -- with flair.
Read Full Review >Village Voice J. Hoberman
Certainly the most original and venturesome American indie I've seen this year.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
Appealingly, the movie has a certain lightness -- like the aforementioned butterfly -- which makes its foreboding qualities surprisingly user-friendly.
Read Full Review >Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson
The nerviest, oddest, most outlandish and idiosyncratic American indie debut since "Buffalo 66," Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko defies description.
Los Angeles Times Jan Stuart
If you let it be what it is, Donnie Darko will knock you flat.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector
Kelly is a supple and courageous storyteller, boldly free-associating as he mixes parody and satire with earnest psychodrama and coming up with plot points no one could anticipate.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
A stunning technical accomplishment that virtually bursts with noise, ideas and references, but it's fundamentally a gracefully crafted movie that's about human beings and not images.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones
So much here is equally befuddling and beguiling; I caught myself leaning in toward the screen repeatedly, trying to somehow get closer to the gorgeous impenetrability of the story, of the boy.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
The flaws are more than balanced out by the risks the earnest Kelly encourages his excellent cast to take.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak
Its only constant is that it's strangely eloquent and quite original.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
Most experienced filmmakers wouldn't even attempt a film that's so blackly funny, that so rapidly shifts genres and tone, and that layers late '80s cultural references so thickly, from "E.T." to Smurfs.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
Has plenty of problems. But most stem from a young filmmaker overswinging on his first time up to the plate and hitting a deep fly out rather than a home run.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Loren King
The debut feature from 26-year-old director Richard Kelly shows plenty of promise, but it's somewhat self-involved and won't appeal to audiences who like a straightforward -- even if fantastical -- narrative.
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Donnie Darko is the one that got away. But it was fun trying to land it.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham
If this movie ever figured out what it wanted to be when it grows up, it would be a terrific one.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Chris Gore
This is really one of those Rorschach test films. You either love it or hate it. For those who loved it, I have only one word: overrated.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
It's this compulsion to solder melancholy to weightlessness that constantly trips up the movie; Mr. Kelly doesn't have the assurance to pull off such a difficult feat.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
Just another self-absorbed teen chronicle, with the added twist of a little time travel and a surprise ending.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 9.2 (out of 10) based on 313 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
P G gave it a10:
This movie is amazing. Thought provoking, compellingly original and eerily trippy throughout. It is so different from anything else out there that you have to be fascinated with this film. As far as I'm concerned, if you don't like the movie, you have lost (or never had) sight of what movies are all about. If you don't like this, go watch some more Transformers. Not that that's a bad movie - it has its place, but that's probably the amount of effort you're willing to put into understanding what a movie's trying to say. Donnie Darko is one movie you have to see before you die.
[Anonymous] gave it a10:
I may have given this movie a 10, however, i do not feel it deserves a 10. Far from it. This movie deserves atleast a 14! The most thought provoking movie i've ever seen. I watched it twice(!) and i never watch movies twice. Out of the thousands of movies i have watched in my life time, i must say that only Ben-Hur and Silence of the Lambs were better than Donnie Darko. The ending is pretty depressing, but then again, i dont think any other ending could have fit the script nature and theme. Woe unto thee who gave this movie a 0, no one should go without seeing this movie!!!
Buzz T gave it a10:
Not easy to understand, but worth watching! It kinda blew my mind.
Patrick D gave it a10:
I think the thing people are mostly moaning about is the thing I love about donnie darko, the fact that it's hard to understand, which leads people to say it's pretentious because it's trying to be too clever or whatever. But, fair enouhg if you don't, but im so fed up with all those blockbuster movies which give a happy, wrapped-up ending where you don't have to work anything out because the film spoon-feeds you the narrative. I think the start and ending of donnie darko are the things that define it fantastically, at the start of your average hollywood film there's a killing or an explosion, while with donnie darko it's the main character lifting himself up from the ground on top of a hill. And with the ending, other films wrap it up for you with a happy ending, the hero going into the sunset or whatever, while in donnie darko it's a wave by gretchen and donnie's mom. And I admit I don't completely understand it, but I honeslty don't think that needs to be part of a film's criteria, needing to understand it, aslong as you enjoy it, who cares? And in the end i think donnie darko is different, beautiful, sad, brilliantly acted and generally amazing.
Eric gave it a10:
There is no excuse for an Indie movie being this good. Its different yes, but intriguing none the less. I was blown away by this movie and insisted on discussing it with my friends for roughly the next four hours. Sit back, don't expect the expected, and you will have a great time.
Ryan K gave it a10:
One of the best movies I've seen. If you can't relate with the main character you most likely were a dick in high school.
R W gave it a10:
This is one of the few movies I had to rewatch to see if I missed something. The visual for the time portals was not very good and its concept was not great, but it did not detract from the story too badly.
