Review of Donnie Darko (2001) by Dillinger P — 01 Jul 2014

Richard Kelly's debut is a yin and yang of epic preportions in the movie making world. On one side, this indie art house flick showcases a dark and alienating presence that haunts for the films running time, on the other side, a pretencious and cheesey mess that hasnt aged well.

However due to mesmerising performances, an intelligent idea and some nightmarish cinematography, this homage to Tim Burton and David Lynch esque film making leaves you fairly satisfied by its outcome.

By now Richard Kelly's name is no doubt tarnished forever by his lack luster follow up Southland Tales and his of par psycho horror, The Box, both of them showcasing the mans obsession with time travel, pre ordained destinies and philisophical jibberish, however lets for one moment remember back in 2001 when Donnie Darko first hit out screens, we were entranced by its individuality, its look and feel was something not really harnest high in commercial cinema.

Back then it would be hard to believe that Richard Kelly's career would nose dive, however looking back on this cult classic, the evidence was right there all along. Donnie Darko is a teenager living in a quiet suburban american neighborhood.

After having a dream in where he is given an exact time by a 6ft bunny rabbit called Frank, it appears Donnies life is turned upside down after barely missing a jet engine, crashing through his roof. Donnie then spends the next month, investigating and trying to puzzle together the coded messages of hallucination Frank and come to terms with what not only will be his mental break down, but potentially the end of the world.

Preposterous looking on paper, this is an idea best viewed rather than explained. The film somehow manages to hold you interest on where this could end up, even if the outcome is as outrageous as possible.

The script is a mixture of good and bad, intense imagery and dark subtext litter its entirety, from child porn rings to the mental instability of a teenager, from bullying, down to the domestic abuse of family life, this film isnt light on its topics.

However it equally finds time to fit a host of pretencious quips and heavily melodramatic "intellectual" philosiphies that are equally cringe worthy and yawn enducing. The cast, for the most part, are excellent, Jake and Maggie Gyyelenhall are wonderful as on screen siblings, Mary Macdonnell is thunderous as the desperate mother.

Equally Patrick Swayze pulled out a sinister yet fun performance, that in the hands of someone less careful could have ended disasterously. Unfortunately for producer, Drew Barrymore, she falls foul of the movies worst offenders, trying desperatly to salvage a poorly written english teacher, whos unorthodox method of teaching and penchant for the mellow dramatic is extremely aggrivating.

The look and feel of the film is excellent, with an 80's tastic soundtrack that sets the scenes very nicely and mixes it with dark and brooding electronic, industrial sound scapes, when needing to get the movies more darker tones across.

There is no doubt this movie is a stepping stone, visually for cinema. Its imagery and iconic set ups are now a staple in any movie goers mental library. from Frank, Gertrid and Donnie sitting watching Evil Dead in the cinema to the homage to 80's tastic montage, introducing major characters in one sweeping take.

Its extremely difficult to dig daggers into the visual department, even if some of the visual effects have dated somewhat over the last decade. However for all its brooding sense of terror and visual finesse, the film cant quite escape the self wankery it cant help but eminate.

It doesnt kill the film stone dead, but it is now easy to see where the director thought his strong point was and the glaring fact of, well hes just not as smart as he likes to kid on he is. A cult classic and a definate for all movie fans.

Dated and confusing, this movie still packs quite a punch and certainly inspired a generation of movie makers.