... It is called Donnie Darko and it tells the story of a quite pleasant nutcase (Jake Gyllenhaal) after whom the film is named.
Donnie lives in an upper-middle class American home with his parents and two sisters. Although their arguments over the dinner table make them seem rather like many ... Read review
October 1988 and small town USA is about to witness the end of the world. It's home to ... more
Donnie Darko, a brilliant but troubled teenager, plagued by terrifying visions which he alone knows the meaning of.With his class mate and soul mate Gretchen and a mysterious ex-teacher, nicknamed Grandma Death, he must unravel the strange occurrences affecting his school, his home and his life before a horrifying spectre known only as Frank leads Donnie to the edge of his sanity.
October 3nd, 1988: It was the time of Dukakis vs. Bush. It was the time of Hungry Hungry ... more
Hippos and Stephen Hawking. It was the time of Duran Duran and Sparkle Motion. It was the time of Donnie Darko, an American teen who took time?s arrow for a ride. . . October 2nd, 1988 was just another ordinary day in Donnie Darko's disenchantedexistence. He's taken his medication, watched the presidential debate on television, and had dinner with his family. Then a terrifying accident occurs?a plane engine inexplicably falls from the sky, crashing through the Darko home and destroying Donnie?s room. In the aftermath of the accident, which just misses claiming his life, Donnie experiences a heightened sense of what it means to be alive, and soon, in love. Armed with an arcane text entitled The Philosophy of Time Travel, Donnie soon uncovers the ability to unravel the threads that bind the universe together, along with the temptation to alter time and destiny.But is Donnie imagining it all? Extraordinarily intelligent, Donnie also sleepwalks, takes his anti-psychotic medication haphazardly, has frequent hallucinations, and is regularly visited by Frank, an eerie, implacable presence who warns Donnie that the world as he knows it will end in 28 days.Yet all these things are the least of Donnie?s troubles. The crux of his existence is the terrifying world around him?an 80s fantasia besotted by pop culture, material excess, fundamentalism, encroaching cynicism, prescription drugs, and rampant hypocrisy.
A companion volume to "one of the most original works of recent American Cinema"* "Donnie ... more
Darko" was the surprise cult hit of 2001. Appearing nationwide on critic's year-end top-ten lists the quirky independent film's effortless blending of science fiction horror adolescent angst and social satire defied description while simultaneously providing "an unexpectedly poignant catharsis for Sept. 11 blues" (Jan Stuart "Newsday"). Its M'Ħ bius strip-like narrative about Donnie a troubled teenager who can see into the future continues to inspire fans to obsessive heights." The Donnie Darko Book" includes the film's screenplay an in-depth interview with writer-director Richard Kelly facsimile pages from "The Philosophy of Time Travel" book that Donnie uses to go back in time as well as photos and drawings from the film and the artwork it inspired.
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October 1988 and small town USA is about to witness the end of the world. Troubled, ... more
brilliant teenager Donnie Darko is plagued by terrifying visions and must unravel the strange occurrences infecting his school, his home and his life before a horrifying spectre known only as Frank can pull him over the edge of his sanity.Now, with the Director's Cut, the full extent Richard Kelly's fevered imagination is unleased - this genre-bending phenomenon is about to get darker. Combining never before seen footage, spectacular visual effects and a fully enhanced audio track prepare to experience Donnie Darko as never before.
Writer-director Richard Kelly's bold debut film is a social satire, a dark comedy, a ... more
science fiction time-travelling fantasy, and a suburban nightmare about an extremely intelligent, depressive, self-destructive, narcoleptic, gun-toting, sex-crazed, teenaged arsonist: Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal). DONNIE DARKO is not your typical teen comedy. But, like GHOST WORLD and RUSHMORE, it uses the trappings of the teen comedy as the entry point for a subversive and trenchant (and also wonderfully entertaining) look at American life. The difference between those films and DONNIE DARKO is that Donnie is an unlikely hero who just might save the world. It's October 1988, in the Virginia suburb of Middlesex. When Frank, a grotesque giant bunny (possibly imaginary), leads Donnie out of his house minutes before a plane smashes through his roof, he not only saves Donnie's life but also warns Donnie that the world is about to end. Over the next few weeks, Donnie falls in love with Gretchen (Jena Malone) and tries to figure out what his life means. Kelly's film perfectly captures the unease that is quietly scratching under the surface of suburban late 1980s life. Gyllenhaal leads an exceptional cast, bringing Kelly's twisted but humane vision to life. An exceptional performance is given by Mary McDonnell (PASSION FISH) as Donnie's mother.
In the tradition of Stir of Echoes and Final Destination, DonnieDarko is an edgy, ... more
psychological thriller about a suburban teencoming face-to-face with his dark destiny. Jake Gyllenhaal leads astar filled cast (including Drew Barrymore, Noah Wyle, Jena Malone,Patrick Swayze and Mary McDonnell) as a delusional high schoolstudent visited by a demonic rabbit with eerie visions of the pastand deadly predictions for the future. This "excitingly original"(Entertainment Weekly) nail-biter will keep you on the edge of yourseat until the mind-bending climax. Dual Language cover, Chinese and English
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Production Year: 2003 - Drama - Director: Michael Winterbottom - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Tim Robbins, Samantha Morton, Om Puri, Jeanne Balibar
Advantages: Refreshingly dark and surreal Disadvantages: It's a mad world
...strangest DVD. It is called Donnie Darko and it tells the story of a quite pleasant nutcase (Jake Gyllenhaal) after whom the film is named.
Donnie lives in an upper-middle class American home with his parents and two sisters. Although their arguments over the dinner table make them seem rather like many normal families we soon learn that in fact Donnie is on medication for a mental condition. He suffers from what appear to be hallucinations ... ...of the school mascot statue, Donnie believes that the answer to these ciphers and mysteries in his life are to do with time travel.
There is an old lady who checks her mail frequently and who has the nick-name, ‘Granny Death’, who – it turns out – was once a scientist researching the field of time travel. He has questions for her on the events in his life but first he consults his science teacher. He’s quite forthcoming up to the ... more
I just watched the strangest DVD. It is called Donnie Darko and it tells the story of a quite pleasant nutcase (Jake Gyllenhaal) after whom the film is named.
Donnie lives in an upper-middle class American home with his parents and two sisters. Although their arguments over the dinner table make them seem rather like many normal families we soon learn that in fact Donnie is on medication for a mental condition. He suffers from what appear to be hallucinations involving a man in a rabbit costume and goes out late at night to sleep in odd places like at the golf course.
A jet engine falls from the sky and destroys his bedroom so he is actually lucky to be out.
He smiles to himself a fair amount and looks as if he knows and sees more than those around him. His psychiatrist has quite a puzzle to unravel as he starts a very specific countdown until the end of the world. During this period, Frank – (the rabbit) – comes to him at various times. Frank has more of the LSD experience to him than the Bugs Bunny and is a rather dark, threatening and surreal character. He wouldn’t work at a childrens’ party.
As well as burning down the house of a supposed public minded and highly paid zealot who turns out to be child pornographer, flooding the school, and driving an axe into the head of the school mascot statue, Donnie believes that the answer to these ciphers and mysteries in his life are to do with time travel.
There is an old lady who checks her mail frequently and who has the nick-name, ‘Granny Death’, who – it turns out – was once a scientist researching the field of time travel. He has questions for her on the events in his life but first he consults his science teacher. He’s quite forthcoming up to the moment where scientific issues and Creationist beliefs contest with each other in their debate, then when they do he ends the conversation on the grounds that his job would be lost, presumably for infringing the accepted parameters of his very staid and conservative school.
There are odd liquid protuberances coming out of peoples’ bodies like invisible spirits which he can see. His friends are typical of smoking schoolboys trying to fit in. There is a fat girl who is an emotional wreck herself. All she ever says in response to her friends is, ‘SHUT UP!’ before running away. One or two thugs attempt to intimidate and even mug him. He does, however, have one very nice girlfriend and it is in his attempt to save her from her fate that he is prepared to do all he can – which is a lot – to make changes to how events in the story and in her life turn out.
This movie puts me in mind of ‘Vanilla Sky’ in that there is a seductive albeit sometimes frustrating guessing game of a plot. It’s the sort of film you could watch many times and come up with new ideas about. This might not appeal to you precisely because of that point, but for me the dark, brooding surrealism worked wonderfully well. The hero is placed into a series of difficulties and situations he needs to resolve and his perceptions involving as they do a large malevolent rabbit are never going to make that easy. The story is less than linear to the audience although I think it is to Donnie Darko who sees it as his mission to take the train of events off the rails in order to change outcomes.
The lovely hit from last Christmas, ‘Mad World’, provides an apt and moving accompaniment to the nightmare events in this film, and other atmospheric tracks are used to good effect, sometimes in an unusual way, obscuring whole areas of dialogue completely, for example.
From the beautiful English teacher who is fired for not conforming to the right-wing conservative ethos of the school (proving that the science teacher has well founded fears), to Donnie’s knowing older sister, cute younger sister, and loving if slightly dysfunctional parents, and from the angst ridden girlfriend to the evangelical teacher of human studies, the characters seem to be all part of the inevitability of the world moving to an end.
How does it end? Does Donnie figure out the rabbit issue? You need a copy of the movie to find out. And when you have found out, let me know what you think happened because this isn’t a clear cut movie with a nice simple story.
Entertaining? Yes, I thought so. Deep? Oh yes? Disturbing? Definitely.
I think, on the whole, it’s quite refreshing to find a tale where you have to do a lot of the work yourself. This is such a story. It gives you the jigsaw somewhat shaken up and invites you to think and to attempt to make some kind of sense of the picture it appears to imply.
I see no special features or instruction manual so this is truly the best I could do to represent this movie to you. I think with this one it’s all going to come down to whether you think you’d like to watch a disturbing movie with a very unattractive rabbit in it. My daughter even disagrees with me on that point. She thinks Frank the rabbit rocks. I’m surprised the bullet hole in his eye doesn’t refine her judgement slightly but it just goes to show, one man’s madness is another man’s time-warp.
If you compare this film to, say, ‘Dawn of the Dead’ in which a lot of zombies go, ‘Arghh!’ and prey on some survivors hiding in a mall, it towers above that stack of paper thin schlock horror clichés, and offers more of a challenge to exercise the viewer’s intellect and imagination.
Rated 15 with some fairly choice swearing, Donnie Darko is available from Amazon at £9.99 as a two disk set with many great special features including a look at the philosophy of time travel. Mine doesn’t have two disks I see and therefore I have none of these good things. Check you get that second disk if you order this. I think it might answer a lot of the questions I’ve been forced to struggle with and guess about in this piece.
There is a suitably whacko official website too: http://www.donniedarko.com/
Look out for moody and unusual performances from the following list, now much reduced in size by popular demand!
Jake Gyllenhaal ...Donnie Darko James Duval ...Frank Patrick Swayze ...Jim Cunningham Beth Grant ...Kitty Farmer Drew Barrymore ...Karen Pomeroy
Advantages: Actually makes "teen" flicks interesting. Disadvantages: Hope you don't like happy endings... or endings for that matter!
...release on DVD and video, Donnie seems to have found himself something of a fan club and is quickly accruing cult status. But why?
Set in 1988, the film stars Jake Gyllenhaal (of “City Slickers” and “Homicide” fame apparently) as young Donnie Darko, a pupil at an American private school. Donnie isn’t like most kids, he’s experiencing increasingly extreme psychotic episodes that are ruining his life, his education and his relationship with his family. ... ...alike, Donnie still seems to be unable to prevent himself from disappearing on midnight escapades, waking up the following morning in unlikely locations. Indeed, the film opens with one of these “awakenings”, as a pyjama-clad Donnie finds himself lying on a mountain road with his bike by his side. As if this wasn’t bad enough, he is also being regularly visited by a new “friend”; a large, demoniacal rabbit calling himself “Frank”. What’s even worse ...
Bodd 31.10.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Donnie Darko (DVD)
Advantages: Beautifully shot, atmospheric, thought-provoking Disadvantages: All is not explained (but then again, need it be?)
From its B-movie title onwards Donnie Darko is a hard film to pin down, and a strangely unsettling one. Writer/Director Richard Kelly has turned cliché into an art form.
Donnie wakes up in the road, in the hills, in the early morning, picks up his cycle from the verge and (to a background of the first of a number of haunting songs) cycles home. Smiling. Home is small town USA. Neat lawns, happy families, private Christian school. His elder sister ... ...child; both are pretty. Sometimes Donnie seems perfectly normal. He attends school, he reads, and hangs out with his mates, he protects the helpless. Not only “cute” (& yes he is cute), but intelligent and diligent and kind. OK, he smokes occasionally, and threatens his kid sister’s pet with the garbage disposal if she breathes a word of it. He is just a teenager.
Except that Donnie is disturbed. In therapy and on medication. It ...
hiker 18.04.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Donnie Darko (DVD)
Advantages: Brilliant acting in a brilliant film Disadvantages: You may get a little confused....
Donnie Darko is one of those films that was always destined to become a cult hit. I don't mean that it's obsessed over by crazy guys in cloaks plotting what to do when then the world ends. By cult, I mean it's the sort of movie most people don't quite get. Some cult films go from being box office bombs to huge successes through word of mouth and the wonderful medium of DVD (Shawshank Redemption anyone?). Donnie Darko is certainly an example of this ... ...this put you off though. Donnie Darko is a gripping amalgamation of various genres managing to incorporate a hint of 80's nostalgia, brilliant performances, a dark atmosphere and a bizarre but honest reality though it's excellent script. The cast consists of various big names and the previously undiscovered Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal all giving pitch-perfect performances. And now to try and relay the plot...
PLOT:
It's October 1988. Donnie Darko ...
lush_lozenge 31.08.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Donnie Darko (DVD)
Advantages: So much more than teen angst Disadvantages: Don't watch it while hungover
...***What's it all about***
Donnie Darko is the teenage son of a seemingly stereotypical middle class family who live in a stereotypical middle class house in a stereotypical middle class neighbourhood.
Donnie struggles with sleepwalking throughout the film, often waking up in unusual places the following morning such as in his pyjamas on a bike on a deserted mountain road at the beginning of the film. One night during the presidential elections ... ...end inside of a month, Donnie starts committing crimes that he would not usually get involved in under normal circumstances. He also starts to question everyone and everything where at one point he would have simply rolled with the punches. He stands up to school bullies, approaches his psychiatrist from a more liberated angle and challenges the life coach/self-help guru/local celebrity Jim Cunningham that the school recruits to talk to their students ...
ally2kc 17.08.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Donnie Darko (DVD)
Advantages: Stylish, atmospheric, clever, well acted+supported. Disadvantages: A few loose ends for some
Donnie Darko
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, Mary McDonell, Katherine Ross, Patrick Swayze and Noah Wyle.
Direction: Richard Kelly
Rating: 15, some sexual references and swearing.
Duration: 108 minutes.
Released: 2001
I will start my thoughts on this film by cutting to the chase and stating emphatically that this movie is simply sensational. It is like nothing else you will ever see, quite often movies like this are regarded ... ...sequence has the titled character, Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) overlooking his quiet, little American suburban town of Middlesex from a secluded hillside in his pyjamas. He looks at the sky with wonder, a glint in his eye and a smile on his face. He gets on his bike and rides back into town to the sound of Echo And The Bunnymen's 'Killing Time'. From these early moments, complete with it's amateurish camera shoots, the film has an atmospheric ...
WormThatTurned 26.05.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Donnie Darko (DVD)
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Advantages: A fantastically unique and compelling film Disadvantages: Needs to be watched multiple times in order to gain a full understanding
a cult film in that it was when the film came to DVD in 2002 that it enjoyed its greatest success, gaining fans from all around the world.
Despite the fact that in terms of promotion, the fact that 'DonnieDarko' is such a culmination of different genres was a bad thing in that it was hard to market the film - viewing wise, it makes it all the more interesting. It is unusual to find a film in this day and age that sticks profoundly to one genre and one genre alone, however for the most part a lot of films can be easily pigeon-holed as they seem to mimic pre-existing films and conventions to a large extent, giving the viewer that strange feeling of deja vu. 'DonnieDarko' is not like this at all and is very much it's own thing, meaning that it is far more interesting to watch than the vast array of copycat films that are out there. Unlike ...
Advantages: Interesting and entertaining Disadvantages: None
like her, and it works.
- PATRICK SWAYZE as Jim Cunningham
Kind of cool to see him play a different kind of character: a smarmy self-help guru adored by some of Donnie's teachers.
- JOLENE PURDY
Girl in Donnie's class who gets picked on.
- KATHARINE ROSS as Dr Thurman
Donnie's therapist; some interesting scenes with her in it.
- STUART STONE as Ronald Fisher
One of Donnie's friends; a bit 2-D.
- GARY LUNDY as Sean Smith
One of Donnie's friends; a bit 2-D.
- NOAH WYLE as Prof. Monnitoff
A science teacher who helps Donnie - but only to a certain point.
- PATIENCE CLEVELAND as Roberta Sparrow
- ALEX GREENWALD as Seth Devlin
- JAMES DUVAL as Frank
DVD
I wouldn't normally bother to recommend a Director's Cut for a film, but with DonnieDarko it seems quite important, as there are some essentials parts missing ...
Advantages: At last! All the extra bits so you finally get it! Disadvantages: A bit TOO much Donnie Darko for the layman
I watched this on video a couple of years ago and REALLY didn't get it. To say it went over my head is an understatement: I spent weeks scratching my head in bewilderment thinking 'What the hell was THAT about?'
Still, help is at hand with the DonnieDarko Directors Cut double DVD set: a hefty package that the fanboys and girls will drool over. With the real cult movies you tend to get a whole load of extra goodies and DD is no different. The only gripe I could have about this set is the analysis is a little too deep, for instance the B-roll of shooting quite honestly made my eyes glaze over.. there are only so many shots of 'genius at work' you can take without falling asleep isn't there? Despite this you do get some genuinely interesting stuff: DD inspired an urban art exhibition in London and you get a short film a film about that ...
Writer-director Richard Kelly's bold debut film is a social satire, a dark comedy, a science fiction time-travelling fantasy, and a suburban nightmare about an extremely intelligent, depressive, self-destructive, narcoleptic, gun-toting, sex-crazed, teenaged arsonist: Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal). DONNIE DARKO is not your typical teen comedy. But, like GHOST WORLD and RUSHMORE, it uses the trappings of the teen comedy as the entry point for a subversive and trenchant (and also wonderfully entertaining) look at American life. The difference between those films and DONNIE DARKO is that Donnie is an unlikely hero who just might save the world. It's October 1988, in the Virginia suburb of Middlesex. When Frank, a grotesque giant bunny (possibly imaginary), leads Donnie out of his house minutes before a plane smashes through his roof, he not only saves Donnie's life but also warns Donnie that the world is about to end. Over the next few weeks, Donnie falls in love with Gretchen (Jena Malone) and tries to figure out what his life means. Kelly's film perfectly captures the unease that is quietly scratching under the surface of suburban late 1980s life. Gyllenhaal leads an exceptional cast, bringing Kelly's twisted but humane vision to life. An exceptional performance is given by Mary McDonnell (PASSION FISH) as Donnie's mother.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
METRODOME DISTRIBUTION; DELUXE VIDEO SERVICE - METRODOME, METRODOME; SONY DADC, IN2FILM; PINK ENTERTAINMENT; SONY DADC, ILC PINK; PINNACLE VISION
Audio Commentary By Richard Kelly And Jake Gyllenhaal, Audio Commentary By Selected Cast And Crew, 20 Deleted Scenes With Optional Commentary By Richard Kelly, Interviews With 20 Principal Cast And Crew Members, B Roll Footage, The Philosophy Of Time Travel, Website Gallery, Artwork Gallery, They Made Me Do It Art Exhibition, They Made Me Do It Making Of UK Art Gallery, Cunning Visions Gallery And Infomercials, Theatrical Trailer, TV Spots, Extensive Cast And Crew Filmographies, Easter Eggs
Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Aspect Ratio
16:9
Professional reviews
Review
"...Richard Kelly, the first-time writer-director, is obviously talented....He sees his characters freshly and clearly, and never reduces them to formulas. In Jake Gyllenhaal, he finds an actor able to suggest an intriguing kind of disturbance..." (Chicago Sun-Times, p.35, 26/10/2001)
"...A remarkably accomplished piece of filmmaking by a 26-year-old Richard Kelly..." (Movieline, p.48, 01/11/2001)
"...A fine film, even an astounding one....DONNIE DARKO has a texture and tang all its own....Haunting and altogether exquisite..." (Sight and Sound, p.35-9, 01/10/2002)
"...This is startling filmmaking -- end of story..." (Total Film, p.104, 01/11/2002)
"...This home life/high school satire set in someone's twilight zone grabs you and doesn't let go. It's also one of the best cast films of the last decade..." (USA Today, p.5E, 22/03/2002)
DVD Description
Writer-director Richard Kelly's bold debut film is a social satire, a dark comedy, a science fiction time-travelling fantasy, and a suburban nightmare about an extremely intelligent, depressive, self-destructive, narcoleptic, gun-toting, sex-crazed, teenaged arsonist: Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal). DONNIE DARKO is not your typical teen comedy. But, like GHOST WORLD and RUSHMORE, it uses the trappings of the teen comedy as the entry point for a subversive and trenchant (and also wonderfully entertaining) look at American life. The difference between those films and DONNIE DARKO is that Donnie is an unlikely hero who just might save the world. It's October 1988, in the Virginia suburb of Middlesex. When Frank, a grotesque giant bunny (possibly imaginary), leads Donnie out of his house minutes before a plane smashes through his roof, he not only saves Donnie's life but also warns Donnie that the world is about to end. Over the next few weeks, Donnie falls in love with Gretchen (Jena Malone) and tries to figure out what his life means. Kelly's film perfectly captures the unease that is quietly scratching under the surface of suburban late 1980s life. Gyllenhaal leads an exceptional cast, bringing Kelly's twisted but humane vision to life. An exceptional performance is given by Mary McDonnell (PASSION FISH) as Donnie's mother.
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![Donnie Darko [Director's Cut]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/103270176.jpg "Donnie Darko [Director's Cut]")
![Donnie Darko [Director's Cut]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/99088340.jpg "Donnie Darko [Director's Cut]")
