Donnie Darko (2001)

A troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes, after narrowly escaping a bizarre accident.

Director:

Richard Kelly

Writer:

Richard Kelly

Stars:

Jake Gyllenhaal, Holmes Osborne, Mary McDonnell

Top 250 #179 | 11 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jake Gyllenhaal	...	Donnie Darko
Holmes Osborne	...	Eddie Darko
Maggie Gyllenhaal	...	Elizabeth Darko
Daveigh Chase	...	Samantha Darko
Mary McDonnell	...	Rose Darko
James Duval	...	Frank
Arthur Taxier	...	Dr. Fisher
Patrick Swayze	...	Jim Cunningham
Mark Hoffman	...	Police Officer
David St. James	...	Bob Garland
Tom Tangen	...	Man in Red Jogging Suit
Jazzie Mahannah	...	Joanie James
Jolene Purdy	...	Cherita Chen
Stuart Stone	...	Ronald Fisher
Gary Lundy	...	Sean Smith

Storyline

Donnie Darko doesn't get along too well with his family, his teachers and his classmates; but he does manage to find a sympathetic friend in Gretchen, who agrees to date him. He has a compassionate psychiatrist, who discovers hypnosis is the means to unlock hidden secrets. His other companion may not be a true ally. Donnie has a friend named Frank - a large bunny which only Donnie can see. When an engine falls off a plane and destroys his bedroom, Donnie is not there. Both the event, and Donnie's escape, seem to have been caused by supernatural events. Donnie's mental illness, if such it is, may never allow him to find out for sure.

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Plot Keywords:

vision | teacher | school | vandalism | insanity | 

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Taglines:

Be Afraid of the Dark

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some drug use and violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 January 2002 (France)

Also Known As:

Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£191,348 (UK) (25 October 2002)

Gross:

$727,883 (USA) (1 October 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pandora Cinema, Flower Films (II), Adam Fields Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min 133 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The main bully is named Seth Devlin, which sounds like devil. A sticker inside his locker reads: "What would Satan do?"

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Goofs

Middlesex, VA, is mostly flat and does not have hills as depicted in the movie.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Elizabeth: I'm voting for Dukakis.

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Crazy Credits

After the closing credits, on the director's cut, there is the title of the movie followed by a drawing of Frank.

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Connections

References An American Werewolf in London (1981)

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Soundtracks

"Proud To Be Loud"
Written by Marc Ferrari
Performed by The Dead Green Mummies
Courtesy of Marc Ferrari / Master Source

User Reviews

the dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had

"Harvey" meets "The Mothman Prophecies," as a troubled teen starts hallucinating a horrific 6-foot-tall bunny rabbit that brings him dark forebodings about death and disaster in the very near future. A streak of "Heathers" is mixed in as well, with trenchant satirical observations of high-school life in the late '80s (story set in Oct. 1988), involving a priggish teacher, a self-help guru (Patrick Swayze!), and a put-upon fat girl at the fringes of the herd. Finally, a whiff of "Back to the Future," in the form of a local eccentric who just may have discovered the secret of time travel, but a secret that has more to do with spirituality than technology.

A lot goes on here. There's a meditation on the possible overlap between madness and the ability to perceive the divine. There's a demonstration of why, in the Bible, angelic messengers (if that's what "Frank" can be taken to be) are often so terrifying that they have to start by saying "Fear not." There's an enlistment of what martial artists refer to as the "ki" (or personal energy, emanating from a person's midsection) in the type of time travel depicted here (the term "ki" is never used in the flick, but the term "path," another word for Tao or "Way," is). Quantum physics theory about wormholes is tied to the Fortean phenomenon of things falling unexplained from the sky, in a way that's more pivotal, and therefore more interesting, than the gratuitous rain of frogs in "Magnolia."

Time travel paradoxes and ironies enter the picture as well. One character (no spoiler!), whose life is saved by Donnie's ultimate trip back in time, wouldn't have died in the first place if he hadn't dragged her along to the opening of the wormhole. Another character (again, no spoiler!), whose truly terrible secret comes to light in the wake of an arson investigation, must go unexposed as a result of that same time reversal, since the arson now won't happen. Surely that's no oversight on the part of the screenwriter; it must be an acknowledgment of the choices and trade-offs in life, as well as of a confidence that no such terrible secret can remain hidden forever.

Somehow this pastiche works, largely on the strength of good performances. Jake Gyllenhaal is appropriately moody and, also appropriately, not always likeable in the title role. Drew Barrymore, who executive produced, appears as a frustrated first-year teacher. The movie's often dreamlike atmosphere is enhanced by the cinematography, the subdued but effective special effects, and the choice of the music on the soundtrack, which includes '80's pop tunes, of course, and a haunting original song (over the end credits) titled "Mad World."

Not for all tastes, but better, stranger, and more complex than I expected.