Donnie Darko

Donnie Darko

             Many people today complain that movies have become boring and/or
     predictable. Most of the time, if you've seen the coming attractions, you've
     basically seen the film. Sure, there are always the oddities and exceptions:
     there are original voices working in the medium who attempt to reinvent
     genres or who try to take risks. Partly because of threatened industry
     strikes that failed to materialize in 2001, many films released that year
     hardly qualified as good. It certainly wasn't a banner year like 1939 for
     instance. Still, there were several films, from established veterans and
     newcomers, that offered glimmers of hope: Christopher Nolan's MEMENTO,
     Richard Linklater's WAKING LIFE, and David Lynch's MULHOLLAND DR.,
     to name but three. One could add to that short list twentysomething
     Richard Kelly's DONNIE DARKO.

             It's clear that Kelly was staking a claim to Lynch's territory with this
     astonishingly accomplished, thought-provoking and simply amazing debut.
       DONNIE DARKO resists being neatly summed up in one sentence. While
     some first-time directors attempt ambitious films, few have enjoyed the
     success that Kelly has with this movie that crosses multiple genres from
     fantasy to teenage coming-of-age to romance to satire.

                 Kelly has described his title character as "Holden Caulfield as
     resurrected by Philip K. Dick." That vivid statement provides some insight
     into this maddening, fascinating and incredibly well-made story of a
     16-year-old high school (portrayed by Jake Gyllenhaal). Although
     specifically set in October 1988, the dilemmas and issues (e.g., strained
     familial relationships, burgeoning sexuality, the meaning of life) with
     which the highly intelligent Donnie grapples are no different that those
     situations facing early 21st-century teens. Donnie's case, though,
     is colored by the fact he is in therapy and being medicated for emotional
     troubles.

             The film's elegiac opening scene finds Donnie asleep in the middle
     of a deserted road with his bicycle nearby. When he awakens, he returns
     to his suburban Virginia home where his dysfunctional family lives. Dad
     (Holmes Osborne) is a staunch Republican, Mom (Mary McDonnell) is
     reserved and withholding, older sister Elizabeth (Maggie Gyllenhaal,
     Jake's real-life sibling) likes to push buttons, and younger sister Samantha
     (Daveigh Chase) lives only to dance. Donnie is the odd man out in this
     group. Not only is he the middle child and only boy, he's also under
     psychiatric care, although he recently decided to stop taking his
     prescriptions.

             Perhaps that accounts for his hallucinations of a six-foot rabbit
     named Frank (James Duval) who warns of the impending end of the world
     and exhorts Donnie to commit several acts of vandalism. Is Frank real,
     or a figment of Darko's overactive imagination, or a projection of
     Donnie's inner demons? The beauty of Kelly's multi-layered screenplay
     and surefooted direction is that the audience is left to determine those
     matters, at least until the very end of the film.

             Donnie's life is altered one evening when he sleepwalks and
     awakens on a local golf course. Returning home, he discovers that
     there has been a freak accident: an engine from a 747 airplane
     has crashed into his house and destroyed his room. If he hadn't been
     somnambulant, he would have perished. Soon thereafter, Donnie begins
     to investigate the idea of time travel with the help of a kindly science
     teacher (Noah Wyle), a topic informed by the films of the 1980s.
     In fact, Donnie specifically references BACK TO THE FUTURE while
     Kelly clearly invokes genre classics like E.T., THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL
      and THE ABYSS. Interestingly, Donnie Darko is clearly enrolled in a
     parochial school, although no overt mention of religion is made. Instead,
     the film explores philosophical and metaphysical issues without relying
     on pat answers. Indeed, DONNIE DARKO raises more questions than it
     answers. [NOTE: Some of those answers were found on the first DVD
     release of the film and the later theatrically released "Director's Cut,"
     which incorporated some previously deleted sequences and was also later
     available on DVD. Yet, even with the additional footage, some ambiguity
     remains, a particularly refreshing quality lacking in most mainstream
     Hollywood films.]

             Kelly shows a flair with actors, eliciting strong performances from
     an eclectic cast. Additionally, he demonstrates a firm grasp of camerawork
     and an effective employment of music to propel the storyline. Utilizing
     many popular tunes of the period, the director underscores and comments
     on the action through the use of such songs as "Head Over Heels",
     "The Killing Notorious" and "Mad World." Kelly shares the same directorial
     impulses of contemporary directors like Wes Anderson (RUSHMORE) and
     Paul Thomas Anderson (BOOGIE NIGHTS) by deploying music for its full
     emotional impact.

             The cast is almost universally on target. Anchoring the movie is
     Jake Gyllenhaal who is able to both project Donnie's innate intelligence
     as well as his social ineptitude. Not only does he make the audience
     believe in the conceit of Frank, he also shades the character's action in
     a manner that suggests that Donnie indeed may be mentally unbalanced.
     There are terrific performances from Jena Malone as a kindred spirit who
     becomes Donnie's girlfriend, Katherine Ross as Donnie's therapist,
     executive producer Drew Barrymore (who appears to be channeling
     Julianne Moore) as a sympathetic English teacher, and Mary McDonnell
     as Donnie's put-upon mother. A subplot involving a self-help guru
     (well played by Patrick Swayze) and a teacher (Beth Grant) who becomes
     his disciple only slightly mars the film. It's understandable why Kelly
     included it, but in some ways it feels shoehorned into a film already
     bursting with originality.

             As with any film of this kind, multiple viewings are in order so that
     one can sort out the plot strands, admire the craftsmanship, and fully
     grasp what the writer-director's intentions were. When the film opened
     in the wake of the events of September 11th, it was perhaps too much
     of a downer. With its DVD release (and the eventual "Director's Cut"),
     one was able to completely savor the facets and nuances of the script
     and direction. Kelly clearly is a talented and potent new voice in American
     cinema. In my humble estimation, DONNIE DARKO ranked as one
     of the best films of 2001.

                                Rating:                    A-
                                MPAA Rating:           R