Reviews

I just saw the Director's Cut, and wow what a film. I would have seen the original cut, but it was only in town for a couple of weeks, so I didn't get a chance to see it. I was excited when it was re-released as the D.C., so I could see it on the big screen. I'm looking forward to renting the original cut, so I can compare the two.

The first thing I noticed about this movie is that it is a sheer pleasure to watch, an observation that I have not seen in any of the comments I've read so far! From the opening scene of Donnie sleeping on the road, to Frank's costume, to the brilliant montages, this movie is more visually appealing than most films I've seen in the past couple of years.

The other compelling aspect I found in this is of course Donnie himself. While I confess that I've never committed arson, nor felt the desire to, I can certainly relate to the craziness of trying to grow up in an environment where the only thing you know for sure is that nothing seems to make any sense, and maybe I'm just as disturbed as Donnie, but being haunted by a ghostly 6-foot bunny rabbit seemed oddly familiar.

I have the feeling there is far more to this movie than what I got at the first viewing, but its scathing commentary on American culture was spot on. (SPOILER AHEAD! ! !) It makes complete sense that the motivational speaker championing the troupe of little girls dressing and dancing like hookers has a secret collection of kiddie porn in a society that vilifies child pornography and child molestation on the one hand, but sexualizes child in advertising.

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SPOILERS FOLLOW

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I appreciate what Bjork and Lars Von Trier were attempting to do with the way they incorporated the musical numbers in this movie, but there were too many detractors:

1. I personally am tired of the current shakey-camera fad. It reminds of TV commercials trying to scare you into buying life insurance.

2. There were too many cheap emotional shots. It's pretty easy to make your audience feel like c**p by having horrible things happen to a pretty, weepy, altruistic, misunderstood female.

3. It was unbelievable in many key places. Do you really expect me to believe that a rather large man needed a gun to take that bundle of cash from a tiny, blind girl? What woman would believe that her son would be more traumatized by knowing that he might go blind someday than he would be by having his mother executed for murder? And why didn't her lawyer (who was willing to take her case for the exact sum that she had saved) refer her to a public defender when she refused to pay? In this country you cannot sign away your rights even if you want to, and there is no way they would refuse a retrial based on new evidence just because the defendant refused to pay. I could go on, but I'm beginning to feel sick, so I'll stop now.

Take my advice: Just download the music videos and skip the movie.