Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.
Throughout the late 1990s and early 21st Century, teen-horror thrillers have always been a genre that has been prominent in Hollywood but has recent shown its weariness. The concept of scaring teens and creeping them has run out of ideas and the plots are always filled with clichéd plots and schemes. In 2001, a string of forgettable horror movies emerged from Hollywood as people were looking for something creepy and enjoyable to watch. Even some horror films try to mix in storylines with other genres but fail.
That same year beneath the Hollywood landscape was a dark, creepy, mind-blowing film from Richard Kelly that wasn't a horror film, nor a dark comedy, or anything in that particular matter. In fact, there wasn’t even a way to categorize the film that is now a cult classic on its own titled Donnie Darko.
Written and directed by newcomer Richard Kelly, Donnie Darko is a very strange film about a young teen whose life was saved by a guy in a bunny suit who tells him to do things. Set in the late 80s, the film is a cerebral, mind-blowing experience that answers the question of time travel, love, death, morality, authority, and truth of the world.
The genre-bending style of Kelly's film is brilliant in its delivery as he gives the movie a bleak look into the mind of Donnie Darko played by young, rising talent Jake Gyllenhaal (son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, and sister of Maggie), whose previous work had been the acclaimed independent film October Sky and the 2001 forgettable comedy Bubble Boy. Jake Gyllenhaal's performance of the brooding, fearsome Darko is one of the greatest characters ever assembled, as he feared for the life of his own and the people around him. While its dark-overtone, genre-bending approach might not be for everyone, Donnie Darko is one hell of a film.
The movie begins with the title character of Donnie Darko waking up in a mountain highway after sleepwalking. He rides back home with the classic Echo & the Bunnymen song The Killing Moon playing in the background as we get introduced to the entire Darko clan. Donnie's parents Eddie & Rose Darko (Holmes Osborne & Mary McDonnell respectively), his college-bound older sister Elizabeth (Jake's real-life sister Maggie Gyllenhaal), and the youngest sibling in the clan, Samantha (Daveigh Chase of the 2002 thriller The Ring).
After he returns home, the family go for a dinner where Elizabeth announces she's voting for Michael Dukakis against George Bush Sr. in the upcoming 1988 election. Eddie isn't fond of Dukakis where Elizabeth and Donnie start to go into an argument and one of the classic opening scenes of the movie where Donnie calls her a "f*ck-*ss" and she replies, "Did you call me a f*ck-*ss? You can go suck a f*ck" and he asks how to suck a f*ck where the argument ends and little Samantha Darko asks, "What's a f*ck-*ss?"in one of the funniest opening scenes of the movie.
Donnie, is already a troubled teen who is forced to see a shrink every once in a while and take prescription medications, as he calls his mom a b*tch and she tells Eddie where he replies "You're not a b*tch, you're b*tchin' but you're not a b*tch". Donnie suddenly sleepwalks again and he hears a strange voice by a guy in a rabbit suit named Frank (James Duval) who tells him that in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds, the world would end. Donnie sleepwalks out of his home and suddenly; something fell on the Darko's house.
Donnie wakes up on a golf course where he meets self-help guru Jim Cunningham (Patrick Swayze) and finds that an airplane engine fell on his room as the family is relieved that he's alive. After his recent brush with death, Donnie meets his friend on their way to a local private school with his sister and another student, Cherita Chen (Jolene Purdy) who is a Chinese girl who wears earmuffs and says "Chut up" to Donnie's troublemaking pals.
We now get introduced to more new characters in the film as the Tears For Fears classic Head Over Heel plays in the background with Roland Orzabal’s lyrics pertain to the theme of time, which is a prevalent subject throughout the movie. We meet the school's conservative Principal Cole (David Moreland) and the Jim Cunningham-groupie/gym teacher Kitty Farmer (Beth Grant). We also meet a couple of students, the school bully Seth (Phantom Planet singer Alex Greenwald) and the new girl to the school, Gretchen Ross (Jena Malone).
The cinematography of that scene is shot brilliantly as it slows down to student's activity including little Samantha Darko practicing her dance moves with her fellow classmates as Sparkle Motion for an upcoming trip to Star Search. The film moves forward as Donnie meets Gretchen in their English class taught by the younger, liberal Karen Pomeroy (Drew Barrymore, who also serves as an executive producer) as she talks to the class about the Graham Green novel The Destructors.
Donnie is intrigued by Gretchen, who has problems of her own since she and her mother are forced to go by different names to hide from her murderous stepfather. Donnie receives another visit by Frank as he tells Donnie to bust a watering line in the school and stuff. School gets cancelled as Donnie talks to Gretchen and learns that no one knows who flooded the school. Donnie sees his shrink (Katherine Ross) as he tells her about Frank and while being on a hypnosis state, Donnie tells his shrink that he wants to f*ck Christina Applegate from Married... with Children. By this point, strange things occur in Donnie's world as he and his dad almost ran over an old woman named Grandma Death (Patience Cleveland) while Kitty Farmer wants to ban books including The Destructor where another famous one-liner occurs when Rose Darko asks Farmer "Do you even know who Graham Greene is?" and Kitty replies "I think we've all seen Bonanza".
Donnie meets with Frank again as Frank tells him about time travel and all this stuff. Donnie's mental state gets more fearsome as he sees things flying around the house that are transparent while he goes into a confrontation with Kitty Farmer, who tries to get students to go along with a love-fear plan from Jim Cunningham where Donnie tells her to take those cards and shove it up her *ss. Eddie Darko found it funny, enough to give Donnie a new room but Donnie's interest in time travel leads to asking science teacher Kenneth Montioff (Noah Wyle) who gives him a book written by Grandma Death aka Roberta Sparrow that gives Donnie some answers.
Kitty Farmer decides to bring in Jim Cunningham to the school as he tells students some mindless advices as Donnie tells him that he's the f*cking Antichrist. Donnie learns that Cunningham is a fraud and wants to prove it to his friends and Gretchen who has fallen for him. One night as Samantha Darko performs with her Sparkle Motions dance troupe to the Duran Duran funk-classic Notorious, Donnie sees Frank where Donnie asks, "Why are you wearing that stupid bunny suit?" and Frank replies, "Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?" and burns down Cunningham's house where what was found was as sh*tload of child porno magazines and stuff. Kitty decides to defend Cunningham, just to prove to the world that except herself that she's an idiot, while Rose is forced to take Samantha and her friends to California for Star Search. Pomeroy meanwhile, gets fired for trying to make the students read more challenging literature as she feels that the students are slipping further away from reality.
Donnie's fear of the end of the world increases as he feels Frank is tormenting him. Samantha and her parents leave as Donnie and Elizabeth decided to throw a pre-Halloween party, to celebrate Elizabeth's acceptance to Harvard, as Gretchen meets Donnie at the party with musical background provided by the Church's Under The Milky Way and the greatest song of the 1980s, Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division. Just as things with Gretchen are great, he sees more troubling things through his schizophrenic mind and the transparent thing he sees flying around the house. Donnie no longer fears for himself, but for the people he loved and cared for as he makes a grand decision for himself and the world.
The genre bending in Donnie Darko is particularly one of the most original concept of the film as its dark overtones is supported by elements of drama, comedy, and sci-fi subplots. Richard Kelly's screenplay is brilliant in its descriptive and giving out great one-liners that is enough to make the film one of the most quotable cult-classics of all-time. Kelly's directing is also should be noted for the way he captures the serene, escapist suburbia and the restrictive, authority in the school as it provides a great backdrop to Donnie Darko's strange world. Kelly should also be giving credit for his choice in music for the soundtrack including an obscure and haunting Tears for Fears composition Mad World performed in the final minutes of the film.
The best performance of the film definitely goes to Jake Gyllenhaal who provides a brooding, intelligent performance to the troubled title character by displaying ranges of emotions, including a rant on Smurfs, which makes up for the misguided role in Bubble Boy as he now plays in brilliant films like The Good Girl and Moonlight Mile. The performances of Holmes Osborne and Mary McDonnell as Donnie's parents are brilliant, particularly Holmes who provides some fine sense of humor.
While Maggie Gyllenhaal's role of Elizabeth Darko was small, she does provide the sense of sibling rivalry with her real-life brother just as she now broken through with 2002's Secretary and Daveigh Chase's role as the young, innocent Samantha is performed with excellence as the two actresses provide great one-liners. Jena Malone's performance as Gretchen is also masterfully played as she provides the conscience in Donnie's world as he is brought back to reality whenever she's with him.
The other performances of Duval, Greenwald, Wyle, Ross, and Patrick Swayze are excellent, especially Swayze who delivers his best dramatic performance since Ghost while Drew Barrymore delivers her best adult role in her career as the cool English teacher who would be cool enough to discuss the great poetry of William Shakespeare, Will Yeates, Allen Ginsberg, Edgar Allen Poe, and Shaun Ryder. Another important character from the film is the role of Cherita Chen played by Jolene Purdy who provides a sense of innocence and naiveté who has a secret for Donnie while the Kitty Farmer character is hilariously portrayed by Beth Grant, who brings in a character who refuses to accept the realism of the world for something that turns out to be false.
****Updated 8/27/03 with tidbits and information of the DVD****
The DVD to Donnie Darko not only enhances the film's growing cult stature but also brings more depth into the film's storylines. Aside from a clearer video transfer on the DVD in comparison to watching it on Cinemax or HBO where it's a bit fuzzy, the film looks much better in the DVD video transfer. Then there's the audio commentary in the DVD. There are two sets of audio commentary in the film. The first is from the cast that includes Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, Mary McDonnell, Holmes Osborne, James Duval, Beth Grant, and producer Sean McKittrick that is a bit annoying at times but also funny as many in the cast are still hoping for a Sparkle Motions reunion. The other set of commentary is from creator Richard Kelly and Jake Gyllenhaal where they discuss some of the things that were overlooked in the film. Gyllenhaal even reveal some things including the Halloween party scene where Maggie dressed up as the girlfriend of Clare Quilty as a reference to Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of Lolita. Gyllenhaal even does a hilarious impression of Christopher Walken who he wished played Frank.
Aside from you usual cast & crew info, trailers, and subtitles, the DVD is filled with great stuff including the infamous Jim Cunningham, Cunning Visions infomercials. Those infomercials by the way are the most cheesiest and hilarious pieces of film I have ever seen and Patrick Swayze was a hoot, even the little kid who claims to have wet the bed with his famous line, "I'm not afraid anymore". The DVD also has an art gallery of the drawings of Frank as the bunny rabbit. There's even a look at the Philosophy of Time Travel and a gallery of the film's website, which is by far one of the best film websites ever that includes the deaths of a few characters in the film. Another great feature is info on the film's soundtrack and a video for the song Mad World performed by Gary Jules.
The final tidbit in the DVD is twenty scenes that were either deleted or extended. Each scene includes optional commentary from Kelly about why these scenes were cut. The scenes include more moments with Jake Gyllenhaal talking with his psychiatrist and Karen Pomeroy, who he felt, was the best teacher in the school. Even extended scenes on the bus that reveals more cruelty towards Cherita Chen. There's even more scenes that were cut that you wished were kept. One was when Jake tells Daveigh Chase that he'll fart on her face in an extended hotel scene and another with Maggie as they're carving pumpkins. We see more of Frank in the film and more depth into the relationship between Donnie and Gretchen. There's another scene unlike the rest of the nineteen that was cut from the film that reveals Donnie's fate which I think no one should see at all, it was completely unnecessary.
****End of DVD Review Tidbits*****
While the dark overtones and mix of genres might not be for everyone, Donnie Darko is one hell of a film that is easily to be quoted for years, particularly in midnight showings. Richard Kelly's obtuse approach to directing and writing and Jake Gyllenhaal's performance is the key to the brilliance of Donnie Darko. While it can be a perfect film for Halloween, it's an excellent film to watch and discuss for years. The film shouldn't be just once, it should be watched again and again for little details that people could miss, even in those Jim Cunningham infomercials. Already in the number 88 slot at the IMDB's Top 250 Films of All-Time, Donnie Darkohas already become a cult classic and in the years to come, it's likely to receive special treatments. For something dark, funny, and dramatic, Donnie Darko is the film to see.
In the tradition of Urban Legends and Final Destination, Donnie Darko is an edgy, psychological thriller about a suburban teen coming face-to-face wit...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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