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Directed By
Richard Kelly
Written By:
Richard Kelly
Cast:
Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, Mary McDonnell, James Duval, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Holmes Osborne, Katharine Ross, Patrick Swayze, Noah Wyle, Stuart Stone, Seth Rogen, Arthur Taxier, Arthur Taxier
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Donnie Darko (2001)
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Movie Review by Julie
April 16th, 2008
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Shedding Some Light on Something so 'Darko'
Favorite Movie Quote: "GRETCHEN: Donnie Darko? What the hell kind of a name is that? It's like some sort of superhero or something. DONNIE DARKO: What makes you think I'm not?"
Time travel, changing the course of history, oh, and a giant bunny rabbit. Donnie Darko has it all, but it may take you a few times to figure it out. I first rented Donnie Darko while I was home sick one day during my senior year in high school. I finished watching it, and I had no idea what it was about. After seeing it a few times, I'm still questioning the plot. It's not confusing, and it's not boring, it's just not like anything else. The film is haunting, gripping, and thought-provoking.
Its dark cast includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, and Patrick Swayze and is directed by Richard Kelly. This movie is original, crazy, and out of the ordinary.
Ultimately, the end of the movie is actually the beginning. With that in mind, let me try to explain the basic story. Donnie Darko (Gyllenhaal; October Sky, The Day After Tomorrow) is a delusional teenager who has a reoccurring vision where a demonic rabbit comes to him and instructs him to do destructive acts, which include flooding his school, and burning down someone's house. The rabbit, Frank, also tells him that in twenty eight days, six hours, forty-two minutes, and twelve seconds the world will end. The movie occurs over the course of that time, and the night that the rabbit tells Donnie this, a piece from airplane mysteriously falls through Donnie's room, although no traces of the plane can be found. Donnie of course, is not harmed, because he has followed Frank outside. Time travel seems to be a secondary plot in the story, until the events of the end, when you realize that what happens in the end was actually meant to happen in the beginning, and the piece from the plane has actually traveled through a portal in time. Jena Malone (Stepmom, Saved) plays Donnie's girlfriend Gretchen, and Drew Barrymore (ET, Fever Pitch) plays the high school English teacher who brings them together. Jake Gyllenhaal's real-life sister Maggie Gyllenhaal also stars as Donnie's sister, Elizabeth and the two are quite amusing to watch together. The montage at the high school in the beginning is so interesting to watch. Of course, it's a perfect over-dramatization of high school complete with cocaine and all. The entire montage is watched while listening to Tears For Fear's 'Head Over Heels'. Also quite enjoyable.
The score for the film is written by Michael Andrews and is sure to send chills up your spine. The ghostly voices throughout the music bring a certain eerie quality to the room and the simple piano melodies add to the strange complexity of the film. Keep an ear open for the song 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' played most noticeably in the scene where Donnie and Gretchen are in the movie theater on Halloween.
The movie really combines some fantastic ideas and interesting plot development. However, it is one that you'll want to watch a few times. But don't worry – you'll get it eventually. The demonic rabbit, mixed with time-travel, fear, love and everything in between are key ingredients to a film completely worth-while. And the best part is: Jake Gyllenhaal. No, just kidding. The best part is that it will force you to think back and analyze the film long after it's finished, which is something that most films nowadays are lacking. So, go grab A Brief History of Time, your favorite stuffed rabbit, and your thinking cap and rent Donnie Darko. Right now!
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