Donnie Darko, the film

I found Donny Darko on a list of the 50 best films of the decade, 2000 - 2009 so I watched it.

It was silly.

A teenager struggling with what appear to be psychotic symptoms for which he is being treated with medications and psychotherapy by an ineffective and self absorbed psychiatrist, gets instructions from a rabbit by the name of Frank to flood high schools, burn down houses, and sleep walk for reasons that are not at all clear.

The film is gimmicky with its flash forwards and other camera tricks. Donnie's family are just weird enough to be slightly interesting, and Donnie's interest in time travel which he is apparently experiencing which is suppose to somehow explain the disjointed sequences is the film is a very artificially contrived narrative device which was lost on me.

I guess I fly in the face of the critics and all the people who say they enjoyed this film. I did watch it to the end because the camera tricks and characters were somewhat interesting, but I wouldn't recommend this film.

I give it a 2 out of 5 on Markham's film scale and certainly would not make my top 50 movies of the decade.