At the time I first watched Donnie Darko I was in the frame of mind for a different type of “horror” movie, not a “thinking man’s” movie. The result was that I did not enjoy the experience, which is reflected in my tanka review.

I have since watched the movie again – with a more open mind – and have actually found it to be rather stimulating in the possibilities that is makes one ponder. Should I revise my review or write another one to counter my initial response? Perhaps; I however write this blog on days of boredom and personal thought on things that are a hobby of mine (that hobby being awful and sometimes really good horror movies) therefore I have no desire to recant or restate those initial thoughts. Repeat readers of my blog are aware of my rather opinionated thoughts and take my opinion with a grain of salt. I like to invoke emotion and rebuttal, so thank you for taking the time to read my review and call me out. I admit was ignorant in my first watching of Donnie Darko as I was close-minded due to my wanting to watch a movie at that time of action rather than thought. I have since been “enlightened” and am now actually a fan of the movie. But i would like it to go on record that while I do now view this movie as actually “good” I think calling it “great” as so many do is slightly more than overrated. But then, that’s just my opinion, which is after all what this blog is all about.

I admit that it took me a couple times watching (as well as supplementation in the form of the director’s cut and wikipedia) to decipher all of the plot – and this may or may not be a failure on the director’s part concerning communication (after all, many people claim to have figured the plot out on the second viewing) – but I think you really missed the point of the movie.

I’m not one of those fans who says everybody who doesn’t like Donnie Darko is an idiot – in my opinion, it takes a certain type of person to emotionally connect with the film and therefore form an interest in it. I am one of those types.

However, even a cursory internet search would reveal that, in fact, though Donnie is a mentally and emotionally unstable boy, the events of the film are actually occurring. It involves some perhaps-confusing theories about time travel.

I think the main issue here is you just don’t find the subject of interest. Which is fine – but your review makes it sound a lot as though you’re bagging a film because you neither understand nor connect with it, and that is pure ignorance.