10 Great Films From Bad Directors

Donnie Darko was a critical and cult hit for the ages, launching the career of star Jake Gyllenhaal and convincing an entire generation of edgy teenage cinemagoers they were properly, like, so intellectual, dude.

Following troubled teen Donnie as he witnesses visions of his death, a cursed rabbit with apocalyptic messages and commitment to various crimes while sleepwalking, the film gives little away, instead encouraging the viewer to seek out their own answers as well as rewarding repeat viewings.

On a first watch, this all seemed like it was guided by the careful hands of a true film auteur. Richard Kelly’s intense and abstract directorial style appeared to be responsible for the arguable masterpiece we all ended up watching but, to our disappointment, this was not the case.

We’ve discussed here before how it was actually studio interference that crafted the original cut of Donnie Darko into the excellent film we all loved, but it was mainly Kelly’s follow-up efforts that exposed the director as a bit of a hack.

Southland Tales was a confusing mess that seemed to be trying to one-up Darko as being ‘weird for weirdness’ sake’ and The Box was a tedious Twilight Zone adaptation that didn’t set any worlds on fire. At least we’ll always have Gary Jules’ Mad World.