Sleeping and Waking

Audience Reviews

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Rey R Feb 23, 2019 Upon rewatching this 15 years later, I realize just how sophomoric the material really was. Really appeals to my pretentious earlier self. See more

George S May 12, 2018 Enthralling little gem of a movie.

Draco P Apr 9, 2018 makes all the difference, much better than the theatrical cut

Kylo S Oct 1, 2017 Good horror Halloween type movie starring Jake gumball and his sister, I don't know how to spell their last names but they were good. I like this movie. See more

Harry S Sep 30, 2017 Ludicrous plot that only works because the movie says it does.

Theodore S Aug 5, 2017 Being one of the first handful of films to include young Jake Gyllenhaal in it mittens, if not the first to cast him as the main centralised cast members, Donnie Darko is a key stage in Gyllenhaal's acting career and a key film in the Horror / Science Fiction genre. Being no defined genre, Donnie Darko successfully appeals to a large amalgamation of audience who will undoubtedly find this a truly spectacular watch - a very smart and gripping one. Being one of Gyllenhaal's first several acting roles, he successfully proves how strong his acting ability really is. Giving a spin tingling performance at times, one to be sympathetic towards and sheer anger towards all in the same film, Gyllenhaal boasts oozing talent almost being demanded to be recognised. Not just Jake Gyllenhaal, finds his legs in this film, his sister Maggie, was not just spectacularly cast, as his sister, making their brother-sister relationship ever more believable, but gives a performance, which is much as strong as other more experienced actors such as McDonnell (Gyllenhaal's on screen mother also giving a spectacular performance). However, despite the rest of the cast including (Jake) Gyllenhaal himself, I felt the best performance came from Gyllenhaal's teacher, Drew Barrymore, providing a all round fantastic performance, humorous comments littered through the film, ending with me wishing Drew Barrymore was one of my high-school teachers. On top of this star-studied cast, the structure of the whole film was intelligently created, with genius passages (structured as dictionary meanings) flash up on to the scene briefly, when you take the time (outside the cinema) to pause and read the passages they smartly allude to the ending, but still leaving the ending to as much of a shock it deserves to be. The film felt like a slow-burner pacing wise, despite the fact it isn't, this is not because it take a slow boring start, quite the opposite, with the way it is approached taking a while to get into action, so to speak, but spends time building character depth which is solely vital to the whole film. In addition a phenomenal script became on of the back bones to the whole film, with no line being unneeded and many of them being extremely smart. Addressing Frank, Darko's 'Rabbit' costume wearing friend, was spectacularly woven into the film, having little lines, being completely effective in creating a sense of tension which runs as a theme thanks to Frank. On top of this the costume design for Frank was also extremely strong having a visually striking look to it making it all the most memorable. However, despite these many positives gearing this movie up to be fantastic in all sense of the words, there were a few minor areas where improvement could be added. The addition of Seth Rogen's character felt unneeded and over done in places, certainly around the middle area to the end of the film where he gets more lines, and was imperative to scenes, it felt unnecessarily over done, and being the one of two bullies, Rogen's felt to be the most unneeded one (however, how Rogen has turned his career into a largely comedy driven one is solely impressive in itself). On top of this, Darko's father seemed to have very little to do, especially nearing to second half to the movie, certainly compared to Darko's mother whom had a large part towards the ending. With Darko's father, Darko's therapist also felt like a mismatch ending, and it not being half as key as she should've been. These are nothing but minor wasted opportunities though. Despite two generally minor faults, that could've been altered simply, Donnie Darko serves up a dish best served warm (warm being the director's cut) which screams to be watched, and deserves to be heard. After watching my rating came to 8.3/10, however, after this thinking about the feature in depth it forced me to up the rating to points higher, falling closer to nine out of ten than eight. Final verdict - 8.7/10 or A/A+ See more

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Sleeping and Waking

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