Donnie Darko
Written and Directed by: Richard Kelly
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mary McDonnell, Patrick Swayze, Drew Barrymore, Noah Wyle

Strange, mysterious, and, well, dark… this is the world of Donnie Darko. The movie doesn’t completely make sense, but it’s still a pretty fun mindbender anyways.

To put it simply, Donnie Darko is about an emotionally unstable teenager who begins having delusions of a demonic rabbit named Frank. Frank seems to think that the world is going to end very soon, and that Donnie needs to do his bidding in order to avoid impending doom. Donnie begins to notice connections between his visions and things that happen in his everyday life, and slowly the line between dream and reality becomes blurred. This builds up a number of compelling questions that do not get fully answered until the movie’s climactic ending. (Or do they?)

Donnie Darko is the debut film by director Richard Kelly, and you can kind of tell that it is his first full length movie. A lot of thought and effort went into Donnie Darko, but at times it’s like Kelly is trying a bit too hard. For example, there are a lot of references to other films, some of which are subtle and cool (like the E.T. parallels at the end), while others just seem a little bit too forced, like the screening of Evil Dead in a theatre.

The movie stars Jake Gyllenhaal who some may know from the wacky comedy Bubble Boy, but he seems like a totally different person here… soft-spoken, sarcastic, with an evil smirk permanently etched on his face. Sometimes he overdoes it a little, but for the most part I enjoyed his performance. It is interesting to note that Donnie’s sister in the movie is played by Jake’s real-life sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal. Their natural chemistry, along with believable acting from Mary McDonnell, Holmes Osborne, and Daveigh Chase make the Darko family seem very real indeed.

If you’ll allow me to make a strange observation here, I found that Donnie Darko reminded me of the movie Magnolia in a number of ways. The slow, methodical pace of the film, the quirky humour, and the careful camera work are all reminiscent of P.T. Anderson’s movie. There are also segments in both movies where an entire song plays as events seem to happen in slow motion on screen. The randomness of the plane engine falling from the sky in Donnie Darko is not unlike the frogs falling in Magnolia. And of course, Patrick Swayze’s motivational speaker can’t help but remind one of Tom Cruise’s role as Frank T.J. Mackey.

Yes, you heard that right, Patrick Swayze is actually in this movie. There are a couple other odd appearances in Donnie Darko in fact… Noah Wyle of E.R. fame plays Donnie’s physics teacher, and Drew Barrymore plays an English teacher. Unfortunately, Drew Barrymore is one of the weaker points of the film, as she is not a very convincing dramatic actress. Alas, her production company was responsible for bringing Donnie Darko to the big screen, so I suppose she had to stick her nose in there somewhere.

The DVD is loaded with special features that give hours of additional enjoyment. Two full audio commentary tracks, plus 20 deleted/extended scenes with optional director commentary are the real highlights, but there is also the Mad World music video directed by Richard Kelly (nothing special to be honest), the full text of the Philosophy of Time Travel book seen in the movie, Swayze’s Cunning Visions infomercials, art and production stills, and some hidden easter eggs as well.

The most interesting thing about Donnie Darko is the way that it incorporates bizarre, X-Files type sci-fi concepts into what would otherwise be an edgy teen drama filled with dark humour. The few instances where special effects are used are understated yet exciting, and the whole movie keeps your stomach knotted with suspense just like a good X-Files episode does. The problem is that the movie’s finale doesn’t entirely pay off.

If you are frustrated by films that do not lay everything out clearly, then Donnie Darko is probably not your cup of tea. This movie is definitely for people who enjoy delving into symbolism and meaning in movies… the thing is, any attempts to truly understand this movie will probably only leave you with more questions. Listening to the audio commentary with the director muddies the water further, as Kelly often gives the impression that he was just trying to be weird and cryptic without any unifying purpose behind the work.

Despite these issues, I still found Donnie Darko to be original and intriguing, and I have already watched it a couple of times simply for the style, atmosphere and the humour that it contains. Even if there can be no feasible explanation to the events in the movie, there is still that illusion of something hidden beneath the surface that urges me to watch it again and again. And if creating such an illusion isn’t the mark of an adept filmmaker, then I don’t know what is. — Sean