I guess I would have to say that the one movie I have seen in my life that resonates with me the most is probably Donnie Darko. It has a lot of weird and fantastical elements that tend to turn some people off, but I think it has great artistry right down to the dialogue. My favorite exchange in the entire movie is when Gretchen, a new girl in town, talks to Donnie for the first time. “Donnie Darko? What the hell kind of name is that? It’s like some sort of superhero or something,” she says, to which Donnie quips, “What makes you think I’m not?”
This is a great movie because it has all the things I think every great movie should have: a great soundtrack (a brilliant blend of haunting original music and a selection of some great 80’s-tastic tunes), great acting, good cinematography, references to great literature, well-executed montages set to music, romance (and not that awful, sappy, romantic comedy romance), a plethora of witty one-liners that although not often relevant to real life are amusing to quote to friends, and a compelling and incredibly complex plot that makes you want to watch it over again as soon as you have finished it for the first time to see how much of it suddenly makes sense (answer: only most of it). It also has a large number of small moments that are really random (you can’t get much more random than debates about the sex lives of smurfs) and individually seem to have no relevance to the plot, but all come together to create a coherent story and consistent atmosphere. Oh, and have I mentioned the creepy time-traveling man in a bunny suit? Every movie should have such a haunting and unique image in it.
I like to be challenged when I watch movies. I don’t like movies with predictable plots and happy endings. I am probably the perfect audience for Donnie Darko. I can’t say it really changed my life (aside from the fact that every time I hear a plane fly over my house at night I am now struck by terror that a piece of it will fall on top of my bedroom), but it is the kind of movie that makes me want to compare every other movie I watch to it.
Detractors would say that this movie is over-hyped and that it is trying to get us to believe that confusing art equals intelligent art. Some people would say that the number of emo/goth kids who relate to this movie is enough to make them wary of it. I would say, however, that this really is a great movie and a great piece of art that deserves more respect than it often gets. But sadly, the world will probably never take Donnie Darko seriously as art in the same way that English teachers will probably never decide to take Harry Potter as one of the most important, influential, and well-written pieces of literature of our time.
