Donnie Darko (2001) Review

Donnie Darko was (back in 2001 when the film was released) director Richard Kelly's debut effort, and what an effort it was! I'd like to take a moment to explain how I'm new to the reviewing game, especially movies, and therefore many references to other films and things like that will more than likely be lost on me, at least until I gain more experience in the field. With this in mind, I still know a good and beautifully made movie when I see one. Critical response was very mixed, with some decrying it as being one of the worst films ever; some saying it tried really hard to do a lot of things and yet sadly fell short; and some claiming it's the greatest film that people of the Earth have ever had the fortune to witness: claiming boldly that it's unsurpassed in every way. Whatever your opinion, there's no denying that it has become a cult phenomenon, with a huge following, and a large band of people willing to argue their opinion. So what do I think of the movie? This is a review after all, and it's more than likely what you're reading this for.

Donnie Darko to me, is an incredibly absorbing, and beautifully twisted look at the human psyche, which can be both wonderfully disturbing; and at times downright funny. It's the story of a problem child - a boy: Donnie Darko. Amazingly this is his actual name (Donald Darko, only with the Donald shortened) and not a nickname, which I must say is rather peculiar; but it does add to the effect, and therefore it's a welcome move in my books. Donnie is a little bit different to most people, and as such is seeing a psychologist (Dr Thurman), and requires medication to keep himself under control. Even still, he is prone to nightly sleepwalks and finds himself waking up in the most bizarre of places: like the middle of a wood with his bike by his side, or slap-bang in the middle of a golf course - often to rather comic effect. One night though, he finds himself face to face with a grotesque six foot tall rabbit named Frank. Frank comes bearing a prophecy, a chilling message of impending doom: "28 Days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, 12 seconds: that is when the world... will end." Already we're set up for impending doom, and the disfigured rabbit doomsayer acts as a show of just how messed up this movie is and is going to be. Thankfully though, his encounter with Frank kept him away from the house, where an engine from a random jet plane that wasn't even there fell through the roof and into his room - had he been there, this would have killed him, and his lucky escape makes him something of a local hero. What ensues is a complicated web of storylines of varying importance and emphasis, but it's a good one - a very good one.

It's a clever movie, that makes you really think about things. It's intelligent take on the human mind, and just what can happen to it in certain unfortunate circumstances can really make you consider your own life, and ponder the world around you. *VERY MINOR PLOT SPOILER FROM EARLY IN THE FILM* It also tackles an issue that nearly all (good) parents worry about: Paranoid Schizophrenia. It shows just how disturbing life can be when people are unfortunately meant with mental and emotional problems. The only problem I can think of with this, is that it could hit a little too close to home for parents dealing with children who actually suffer from these problems. Frank also makes Donnie do things, like flood his school, stick an axe in a school statue, and burn down a guy's house (more on this later). *END SPOILER*

The only problem I have with the plot, is that it can get a little convoluted towards the end. The large number of different plotlines start to get a little jumbled when they're brought together for the conclusion, and things can get ridiculously confusing. It also starts to slightly lose it's disturbing psychological edge, and it becomes more of an effort to follow what's going on. A lot of people dislike the ending, calling it an anti-climax; but being a bit of a messed-up child myself, I thoroughly enjoyed it, because it nicely resolved everything, but solved nothing.

Prior to this though, everything is golden. Whilst there's a sci-fi tone that creeps in later and alters things drastically, it thankfully doesn't detract from the film's genius, as by that point it could quite literally throw anything at you and you would appreciate it. It's obviously going to be one of those movies that makes you ask a lot of questions, and what I like is the way with which it addresses them. It uses Dr Thurman as a kind of channel to the audience: making her ask the questions we all want to know the answers to, and using the context of her therapeutic practice to provide key plot points.

Another thing I really love, is that this movie really feels like it was made in the 80s. Whilst being made in 2001; it was set in 1988, but the great thing is that it genuinely feels like an 80s movie. The soundtrack is there featuring tracks from the likes of Tears For Fears. It's just, there. It just feels like something that was actually made in the 80s: things like Back to the Future, The Karate Kid, Ghostbusters, The Lost Boys, and all those sorts of classics.

One thing that I'm not a fan of however, as bizarre as this may seem, is the gratuitous strong language. Whilst I have no problem with 'swearing'; sometimes it seems a little too much, and there are situations where a more civil tongue would have sufficed. On the other hand however, this does help with characterization, and character is one of the things that this movie does very well. It has an all-star cast, and if you go into it not knowing who's in it, you'll end up going through the whole rigmarole of  "Oh my God I recognise him/her! What have they been in?! Ooooooh that's going to bug me now!" quite a few times.

First off, there's Donnie himself (Jake Gyllenhaal, more recently seen in the likes of Source Code and Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands) who is fantastically played. It's brilliant how quickly he can make the transition between being a 'normal' inquisitive teenage boy, to going all 'emo' a la Toby Maguire in Spiderman 3. Then there's his Harvard-bound sister Elizabeth (Jake's real life sister Maggie Gyllenhaal, more recently seen in the likes of The Dark Knight, and the fantastically weird 2006 film Stranger Than Fiction), who stirs a dispute early in the movie through announcing that she's voting for Dukakis. She doesn't really play that big a role in the movie, and usually serves to wind Donnie up. Then there's his younger sister Samantha (Daveigh Chase, the voice of Lilo in Lilo and Stitch!), who dreams of being a dancer and aims to shoot for stardom with her dance troupe 'Sparkle Motion'. There are his troubled parents, Eddie (Holmes Osbourne, most recently seen in Larry Crowne) and Rose (Mary McDonnell, most recently seen in Scream 4) . There's the obligatory love interest Gretchen (most recently seen in Sucker Punch). There's a 'self-help' guru (played by Patrick Swayze... come on! Dirty Dancing? Everyone knows him) who is suitably annoying as hell. There are a load of teachers, the most important of which (to me) being played by Drew Barrymore (seen in: everything under the sun; namely Music and Lyrics, 50 First Dates and Never Been Kissed). Then there's a huge array of extras, the one that I was the most shocked to see being a younger Ashley Tisdale (more commonly known as Sharpay in High School Musical and Shapay's Fabulous Adventure; as well as Maddie in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and Savannah in the hugely entertaining *wink* TV show Hellcats).

Overall, Donnie Darko is, to re-iterate what I said earlier, an incredibly absorbing, and beautifully twisted look at the human psyche, which can be both wonderfully disturbing; and at times downright funny. It's one of those intelligent movie epics like The Sixth Sense that just has to be watched at least once in your lifetime; otherwise you will end your time on this Earth being unfulfilled as far as intelligent cinema goes.