Donnie Darko (2001) ****

Donnie Darko (2001)—Richard Kelly's surrealist, existential, metaphysical, superhero Sci-Fi time travel teen angster—turned twenty earlier this year (per its Sundance debut). Kelly's feature debut is clearly the work of a young filmmaker (though one who clearly had a vision, passion, and the means to make something special). 

I appreciate the film for this though, as DD's "immaturity" only befits the characters and the story. I think that's why the film continues to find new audiences—it speaks to a certain age bracket and it serves as a reminder of why we identified with it for those of us who saw it in when it was released. I was twenty-one when I first saw it and I think that was just about the right age to connect with the characters and the dialogue.

Upon buying Arrow Video's recent limited edition 4K UHD (which is a really marvelous package), I decided to watch the included theatrical and director's cuts on consecutive nights (hat tip to my friend Ryan). I had watched the director's cut the previous three times that I'd watched the film so it had been some time since I'd seen the theatrical cut (before I started logging my film watching in 2005, in fact). While I do prefer the theatrical cut overall, there are aspects of the director's cut that I like as well (though there are also things I am not a fan of). 

This has inspired me to take on a project—I'm in the midst of creating a "Redux" version of the film that incorporates elements of both cuts. I haven't seen anything like this posted online so hopefully it'll be a first. Stay tuned for a post about that when I'm finished (*which is here).

I still really love Donnie Darko, warts and all. The cast is wonderful, the performances are something special and the characters are flawed but inspire empathy. Some of the dialogue is silly but a lot of it is still very quotable. So many of DD's scenes are permanently etched into my memory. It's a spoonful of Lynch, a sprinkling of Spielberg, and a dash of Hughes—yet it's unique and unexplainable just why it's so appealing.