| MOVIE REVIEW: DONNIE DARKO (2001) |
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| MOVIE REVIEW: DONNIE DARKO (2001) | |
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starring: Donnie Darko is the weirdest movie I've seen in a long time. And I mean that as a compliment. Through the first half of the film, the film switches gears back and forth between being a teenage American Beauty-style High School satire - and being a psychological drama that asks the question "what if Kurt Vonnegut re-wrote the classic film/play Harvey (Jimmy Stewart, 1950)? Ultimately, these 2 sensibilities become further intertwined throughout the running time, crashing together in the cataclysm of the end of the story. Title character Donnie Darko is a horny teenage boy, roughly 17 years old. He has an "intimidating" IQ and appropriately, "emotional problems". Medicated and troubled, one late night, Donnie is drawn sleepwalking onto a golf course green by a mysterious voice and is confronted by Frank, a very scary 6-foot tall Rabbit (suit). Frank tells Donnie that the world will end, and at exactly when: in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 min and 6 seconds from that moment. Slowly, as this date and time approach, Donnie's tolerance for the hypocracy of polite society dissolves into open hostility for authority, mostly towards his Catholic High School. Of course, this dissolution is parallel to that of his apparent sanity, as his visions of Frank become more frequent and vivid, and it begins to appear that Donnie is being controlled by forces beyond him - or perhaps it's just the onset of Paranoid Schizophrenia. The satire of this film lies largely in its setting of October, 1988. As such, there are well-written (and well-cast) references to Smurfs, Michael Dukakis, Patrick Swayze, Self-Help videos, Books Banned by the PTA, and Star Search. As could be expected, there are scenes dramatically scored with the songs of Tears For Fears, Echo and the Bunnymen (heh) and Duran Duran. While this could easily come off as a fetish - a nostalgic hook alone - these elements don't seem tacked-on or parody. This is the "American Beauty" part of Donnie Darko; a social satire of a specific time, age and a personal crisis against authority. But that's the sugar to help the surreal and dark Psycho-drama go down. What this movie is really about is up to a lot of interpretation - but such would have to include: faith in God, Time Travel, Reality vs.Sanity, Self-Belief, Fear of Death, and the Apocalypse. Add to that a healthy dose of Religious Parable, and it's one strange, curious trip. Donnie Darko is not a film for people who like their movies to make concrete sense - concluding with a neat red bow on top. There is a lot to interpret, think and argue about here (mostly in the last 15 minutes). The ending is dramatic and undefined, and finally, filled with an sense of kindness, sympathy and resolution. The movie is by no means perfect: There are questionable acting/casting choices (Barrymore), and it can easily argued that the story never really ties up its loose ends. There's a latin phrase used in writing (and this film) - "Deus ex Machina": "God of the Machine". It has come to define what a writer will do when the story seems to have painted itself into a corner; let an "Act of God" sort it all out in the end. There's a bit of that in Donnie Darko. However, sharp writing, elegant and stylized visuals, and solid acting hold all of this together in an effective and intriguing way; helping the audience enjoy the ride while Donnie swirls round and round the drain - only to find that what's on the other side may not be so scary after all. [If
you rent the DVD and really like the film, I highly recommend watching
the 20 Deleted Scenes. Some are short inconsequential trims, but there
are many that change and add imporant elements to the story. Especially
if you're a fan of the novel Watership Down.] -
Ian, June 25, 2002
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READER'S
COMMENTS : DONNIE DARKO
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- Megan/S. Baldwin, Dec 12, 02 the reason drew barrymore is in it is that her company made the movie. - Drew Jan 3, 03 this is one weird movie ive seen some strange shit before but this is like oompaloompas sodomize the brady bunch then kill them and eat them - SQUIDWARD Feb 24 03 what the hell is this film about. crazy. it was great but shit! so many questions to ask! - John, June 15 I thoroughly enjoyed your interp of Donnie Darko, save a single aspect; Deus ex machina. An instance of deus ex machina is Vanilla Sky, where this false reality comes completely out of nowhere. In Darko, however, a vast amount of time is given to developing and perusing the idea of time travel, which would suffice for the "act of god" in the case of our amazing movie. All in all, fantastic review... I only had tht small piece to say. Thanks! - Brandon, July 10 Donnie Dark is one of the most intriguing movies to date. Without a set in stone story, it's unpredictability captivates the audience with stunning twists and turns that leave you searching for more. The moral of the story is that young people without proper direction turn to apathy, and Donnie shows us this in the movie. His odd and questionable relationship with his imaginary, mutant bunny friend, Frank, depicts the mind of a delusional boy trapped in a world that doesn't understand him. Through Frank's commands, Donnie illustrates violent and disturbing tendencies that have long been locked away. Donnie soon finds himself searching for answers to an unknown problem, listening to a being put together by his troubled mind, rather than his own conscience. This leads to an emotional breakdown with thoughts of time travel and the questioning of religion in his life, but with the help of a new found love, he eventually finds a way out. I recommend this movie to anyone who wants to gather more from a film than modern, self-contradicting films. I give it a double 5-star rating for creativity and the captivation of those of us who make good use of our brain cells. -
Brian, July 10 As you said, anyone who expects a concrete, narrowly-defined plot will not get this movie. I find it ironic that the Love and Fear self-help guru in this movie makes such a mockery of this kind of narrow-minded, anti-originality kind of thinking.. P.S - I believe the whole movie takes place in the fraction of a second between the time the jet engine hits the roof and Donnie's death, when his life flashes before his eyes as a weird dream. The dream actally enables Donnie to experience the five steps of greiving - but that is another story. -Hal Huntley Donnie Darko is well scary a canni figure out what it is aboot, frank is pure hevy scary. I
got something quite different from this film. I concluded that Donnie
is exeptionally intelligent and through his perception and questionning,
discovers how to time travel. WHY? Well Frank (who is an actually
painter if we see the end of the film) exists and was shot by Donnie
for killing his girlfriend. (Hence the state of his eye and rabbit
costume in the 'visions'). In order to allow the woman he loves
Gretchen from her death by Frank, he goes back to the wormhole at
the top of the mountain to reverse I am obsessed in solving this paradox. Wierd / wonderful / intelligent - a film for all conspiracists and thinkers. - Janet , England Aged 33 / 3 months / and 45 seconds i found donnie darko to be a great film it asked so many questions and to truly appreciate the film one must take all of them into consideration,and also there is a link between donnie and jesus and frank and judas - Colin Your review of Donnie Darko was pretty much on the money, I would have went more in depth concerning certain parts of the movie, but thats neigther here nor there. Thats all up to personal interpretation of the movie and personal beliefs concerning god and death. My response is to all the retarded fucks that wrote on your, "forum," I don't think that one person even came close to a resonable interpretation. For example the idiot that thinks the whole movie happens in a fraction of a second before the jet engine kills Donnie. I If that person would watch the movie again and think about it, he would realize that his thoughts are completely off target. Also I would like to talk about Brian's view that , "Through Frank's commands, Donnie illustrates violent and disturbing tendencies that have long been locked away." He does this things because Frank is setting up a situation were he will have no choice but to save the world. If he floods the school, he meets Gretchen and falls in love. If he burns Cunningham's house, then his mom has to get on the plan that will eventually crash. I can sight more examples, but basically Donnie performs these acts of destruction so that eventually he will be put in a situation that he has to save the world. Thanks you for reading some of my thoughts Kevin Hansen, Febuary 17 when trying to decode the substantial course of the movie's plot, one should really think about, how precognition fakes to be a reliable source for actual memory. it is said, that, in the moment of dying, the whole life flashes before one's eyes, which means: the individual past. but not for donnie - he unfolds his future life. he sees, what would have been. one amusingly mad world ahead. pretty scary prospects, though. chris I think when the jet engine hits the roof it came from another time dimension and in one dimension Donnie's dies and in the other dimension the world really did come to an end that's where the jet came from. When the plane his mother and sister where on when the world was coming to an end. - Stabile i loved it..at first i was like y the heck did i waste my time on this dumb movie..but the more i thought about it the more i realized the point "time travel is possible"..i was confused for a bout a week... -Cherish You mean now you understand time travel? Wow. - Tom, No-Shadow
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| MOVIE REVIEW: DONNIE DARKO (2001) |
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