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Donnie Darko
Newmarket Film Group


9.3

based on 21 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 305 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA 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)

GENRE(S):	Drama \| Fantasy \| Mystery \| Sci-fi
WRITTEN BY:	Richard Kelly
DIRECTED BY:	Richard Kelly
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: March 19, 2002 Video: March 19, 2002 Theatrical: October 26, 2001
RUNNING TIME:	122 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

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...

100

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.

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.

LA Weekly Joe Donnelly

It is funny, sad and beautiful. And it's right on time.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

Certainly the most original and venturesome American indie I've seen this year.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Appealingly, the movie has a certain lightness -- like the aforementioned butterfly -- which makes its foreboding qualities surprisingly user-friendly.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

Its only constant is that it's strangely eloquent and quite original.

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.

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.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

David Lynch lite.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Just another self-absorbed teen chronicle, with the added twist of a little time travel and a surprise ending.

The average user rating for this movie is 9.3 (out of 10) based on 305 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

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.

Shannon P. gave it a5:
This is two movies mashed into one. The first is a clever black comedy, covering similar territory to Heathers and other 20-something movies based on characters nominally in their teens. For this, the movie is well written, cast, and acted. Though hardly original, it is vitally amusing. The other movie--the attempt to do something new with the genre--involves a jumbled and pretentious mix of pseudo-psychology and pseudo-science. If you think you may care about either, unless you confuse confusion with art, you won’t by the end of this film. The dull and dark cinematography only adds to the pseudo-intellectual tedium.

Christopher J. gave it a6:
The movie asks some interesting questions, but doesn't rap it up well. Pretentious people will pretend to understand it completely. It does a good job of stretching a menacing feeling even well after the movie is done.

Chad S. gave it a6:
This movie, ultimately, is either you love it or you hate it. Donnie Darko is not visually stunning or technically raising the bar by any means, however from the beginning to end you are filled with suspension, always questioning whats going to happen or why is this happening. The suspense Donnie Darko fills you with is a good feeling, and makes the movie enjoyable, but unfortunately the ending doesnt do a good job of helping you understand what the heck just happened. With that being said, i give the film a 6 because it is enjoyable to watch, it just ends without making enough sense. I personally researched, watched the commentary, and researched some more to fully understand the plot, and there is an extremely, elaborate, good plot, full of time continuums, paradoxes, and alternate universes, behind Donnie Darko. I can say, without a doubt, that there is no possible way that the entire logic behind Donnie Darko could have been expressed within this movie, there is simply too much. Overall Donnie Darko is a love it or hate it movie...in my opinion i enjoyed everything, except for having to do research to make sense of the ending, and since i had to do research i am deducting points from the movie, also it isnt a flashy, or eye catching movie, its dull as far as the camera goes. If your interested in seeing this then give it a shot, but if you have doubts then don't.

Armond A. gave it a0:
When I saw this film a few years ago, I was puzzled by the jacket blurbs that had "conned" me into watching it, and I must confess that its growing status as an Indie classic is the last thing I would have expected as I pulled it out of the dvd player. There's no point in my raking it over the coals; plenty of us have already done that. Yet the movie speaks to quite a few people, and for me that is one test of its value. My guess is that many of us have either never known or forgotten the brutal impact that kids in high school have upon one another, even when the person experiencing the assault knows at some level that the whole thing is preposterous. In this sad film the victim becomes unglued, as if succumbing to prolonged flogging with (what we may see as) wet noodles. Let this serve as a cautionary story to us old-timers who think that REAL harm to kids is found only in bullies who look and act like Bluto or strange fruitcakes who collect the underwear of neighborhood teens.

Jeremy M. gave it a10:
It's a fantastic love story. And that's all it truly aims to be. Everything else is just scenery.

Donnie Darko Newmarket Film Group

Donnie Darko
Newmarket Film Group