[yasr_overall_rating]
Donnie is a troubled high school student: in therapy, prone to sleepwalking and in possession of an imaginary friend, a six-foot rabbit named Frank, who tells him the world is going to end in 28 days 06 hours 42 minutes and 12 seconds. During that time he will navigate teenage life, narrowly avoid death in the form of a falling jet engine, follow Frank’s maladjusted instructions and try to maintain the space-time continuum.
Back in the late ’90s and early 2000s, there were a lot of films that were confusing and didn’t have readily discernible plots: “Mulholland Drive,” “Memento,” and “Donnie Darko” are among some of the best remembered. “Donnie Darko” is a film about time travel, temporary universes, a character with supernatural powers, and one creepy rabbit. I wouldn’t be able to describe this 2001 film unless I’d read some guides online that provide frameworks for understanding the movie. “Donnie Darko” is a hard film to analyze in any logical manner, but it may very well be that lack of logic that has remained so cemented in the minds of my generation.
“Donnie Darko” isn’t particularly funny nor it is particularly scary. But there’s something about the film that has entered the pantheon of what my generation considers the best films. Back in the day of the early 2000s, you were considered a cool kid if you had seen “Donnie Darko.” Tons of people still remains fans of the film. For example, my girlfriend has a poster of the Daria characters in the film dress hanging in our kitchen. For a 16-year-old film, its legacy lingers. For people who love “Donnie Darko,” like myself, its most recent re-release on Blu-ray is amazingly comprehensive: Arrow has included the theatrical version, the director’s cut, and many bonuses.
This review will focus on the Director’s Cut rather than the theatrical version. The largest difference between the two versions is that the director’s version adds notes between each countdown. These notes aren’t explained and provide more questions than answers if one doesn’t understand some of the theories proposed about “Donnie Darko.” The Director’s Cut offers even less logic than the theatrical version in terms of providing answers.
The film opens with Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhall) sprawled out on a road. Darko is out of his house a lot at night due to orders given by a large rabbit named Frank. The advice saves Darko from being killed by a falling airplane engine. This premise with the airplane engine would alienate a lot of viewers from the film given that “Donnie Darko” was released shortly before the events of 9/11. During its theatrical run, the film grossed only about $500,000.
Set in 1988, Kelly shot the movie in southern California in some of the scenes where pickups for Ferris Bueller were shot so the film looks like it takes place in John Hughes land. Donnie has a relationship with the new girl Gretchen (Jena Malone) and both students attend an English class taught by Ms. Pomeroy (Drew Barrymore). Despite his inner turmoil that requires a therapist in the form of the great Katherine Ross, Donnie’s mother (Mary McDonnell) and father (Holmes Osborne) get along just fine. Despite these straightforward elements of Donnie’s world, there are many elements that are not. These other elements, like Frank and time traveling, are why Donnie is so memorable.
In order to appreciate “Donnie Darko,” you must appreciate that it will not offer any answers in terms of its logic. By the time the lights fade, you won’t understand the movie. This is the type of illogical dream-like movie that screenwriters are told to never write because the story won’t work. Only here, it does work. The director, Richard Kelly, is trying something new and a little bit mad. There’s not enough madness like this in mainstream modern American film.
Despite its inarguable nature as a classic film, “Donnie Darko”’s director, Richard Kelly, has had a hard time as a film director. Kelly only directed two films after this, “Southland Tales” (which didn’t get great reviews, but I haven’t seen it) and “The Box” (which didn’t get good press either, but I love this film for its genuine creepy factor.) I hope Kelly makes another film as good as “Donnie Darko” some day.
Available in a Special 4-Disc Blu-ray & DVD Limited Edition Box Set April 18th
