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... more
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Donnie Darko [2002]
Donnie Darkois a thought-provoking, touching and distinctive offering from relative
... more
newcomer, Richard Kelly (II). It's 1988 in small-town America and Donnie, a disturbed teenager on medication and undergoing psychoanalysis for his blackouts and personality disorders, is being visited by a being in a rabbit suit whom he calls Frank. It's this anti-Harvey that saves Donnie from being crushed to death when an airplane engine falls from the sky onto his house. This is the beginning of their escalating relationship, which, as Donnie follows Frank's instructions, becomes increasingly violent and destructive. Added to this is Frank's warning of the impending apocalypse and Donnie's realisation that he can manipulate time, leading to a startling denouement where nearly everything becomes clear."Nearly everything", becauseDonnie Darkois a darkly comic, surreal journey in which themes of space, time and morality are interwoven with a classic coming-of-age story of a teenage boy's struggle to understand the world around him. The film leaves the viewer with more questions than it answers, but then that's part of its charm. Performances are superb: Jake Gyllenhaal underplays the mixed-up kid role superbly and Donnie's episodes of angst positively erupt out of the screen. There are also some starry cameos from Mary McDonnell as Donnie's long-suffering mother, Patrick Swayze as Jim Cunningham, the personal-development guru with a terrible secret, and Noah Wyle and Drew Barrymore as Donnie's progressive teachers. Undoubtedly too abstruse for some tastes,Donnie Darko's balance of outstanding performances with intelligent dialogue and a highly inventive story will reward those looking for something more highbrow than the average teenage romp. --Kristen Bowditch
Donnie Darko [2002]
Donnie Darkois a thought-provoking, touching and distinctive offering from relative
... more
newcomer, Richard Kelly (II). It's 1988 in small-town America and Donnie, a disturbed teenager on medication and undergoing psychoanalysis for his blackouts and personality disorders, is being visited by a being in a rabbit suit whom he calls Frank. It's this anti-Harvey that saves Donnie from being crushed to death when an airplane engine falls from the sky onto his house. This is the beginning of their escalating relationship which, as Donnie follows Frank's instructions, becomes increasingly violent and destructive. Added to this is Frank's warning of the impending apocalypse and Donnie's realisation that he can manipulate time, leading to a startling denouement where nearlyeverything becomes clear."Nearly everything", becauseDonnie Darkois a darkly comic, surreal journey in which themes of space, time and morality are interwoven with a classic coming-of-age story of a teenage boy's struggle to understand the world around him. The film leaves the viewer with more questions that it answers, but then that's part of its charm. Performances are superb: Jake Gyllenhaal underplays the "mixed-up kid" role superbly and Donnie's episodes of angst positively erupt out of the screen. There are also some starry cameos from Mary McDonnell as Donnie's long-suffering mother, Patrick Swayze as Jim Cunningham, the personal development guru with a terrible secret, and Noah Wyle and Drew Barrymore as Donnie's progressive teachers. Undoubtedly too obtuse for some tastes,Donnie Darko's balance of outstanding performances with intelligent dialogue and a highly inventive story will reward those looking for something more highbrow than the average teenage romp.--Kristen BowditchOn the DVD:Donnie Darkois presented in pristine widescreen and surround sound, which is only fitting for such a bizarre and beautiful film. The special features include the standard deleted scenes with commentary, trailers and the like, but the disc also has a wealth of interesting and well-thought-out features: there's a UK graffiti artist gallery with pictures based on the film, a look inside the bookThe Philosophy of Time Traveland two different commentaries that will help both the understanding and appreciation of the film. The best feature is a bizarre directorial commentary on the "Cunning Vision" film, which is set up not only to ridicule this style of self-help video, but also the trend for director's commentaries on feature films. --Nikki Disney
Donnie Darko [2002]
Donnie Darko is a thought-provoking, touching and distinctive offering from relative
... more
newcomer, Richard Kelly (II). It's 1988 in small-town America and Donnie, a disturbed teenager on medication and undergoing psychoanalysis for his blackouts and personality disorders, is being visited by a being in a rabbit suit whom he calls Frank. It's this anti-Harvey that saves Donnie from being crushed to death when an airplane engine falls from the sky onto his house. This is the beginning of their escalating relationship, which, as Donnie follows Frank's instructions, becomes increasingly violent and destructive. Added to this is Frank's warning of the impending apocalypse and Donnie's realisation that he can manipulate time, leading to a startling denouement where nearly everything becomes clear. "Nearly everything", because Donnie Darko is a darkly comic, surreal journey in which themes of space, time and morality are interwoven with a classic coming-of-age story of a teenage boy's struggle to understand the world around him. The film leaves the viewer with more questions than it answers, but then that's part of its charm. Performances are superb: Jake Gyllenhaal underplays the mixed-up kid role superbly and Donnie's episodes of angst positively erupt out of the screen. There are also some starry cameos from Mary McDonnell as Donnie's long-suffering mother, Patrick Swayze as Jim Cunningham, the personal-development guru with a terrible secret, and Noah Wyle and Drew Barrymore as Donnie's progressive teachers. Undoubtedly too abstruse for some tastes, Donnie Darko's balance of outstanding performances with intelligent dialogue and a highly inventive story will reward those looking for something more highbrow than the average teenage romp. --Kristen Bowditch
Production Year: 1946 - Drama - Director: Michael Curtiz, Delmer Daves, Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Capra - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance
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Advantages: The usual - Good music, characters and visuals. Disadvantages: Slightly weaker than the original edition in my opinion
...Cut version of the film Donnie Darko. What this means is that basically you get a 20 minute longer version of the film (The original is 1 hour 49 minutes and the Director's Cut is 2 hours 13 minutes) and several extras. More detailed description of the content can be found later in the review.
New viewers of Donnie Darko might be interested in a story outline and I shall provide. The film is set in 1988 in a small town in USA. The main character ... ...Donnie is trouble by prophetic visions, and is told by a spectre that the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. The movie then revolves around Donnie's quest to save the world, but also explores many side-storylines and themes, such as hypocrisy, love and school life. In fact, one of the beauties of the movie is the way it can be seen as so many different things: one can watch it for comedic value, for the drama, the science ...
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Advantages: Keeps you thinking, fantastic storyline, you will want to watch it over and over! Disadvantages: You really do have to watch it to understand it.
...throughout the period of which Donnie tries to find himself.
This film questions every persons take on space, time and reality... A seriously good film for people who like to think.
CAST - Everyone who is in this film e.g. Jake Gylenhall ('Donnie') is of very quality as far as acting talent goes. They really enable you to be drawn into the story as you were living it. You can really see the superior quality of acting throughout the whole cast too.
... ...many special features but the ones they do use are excellent seeing as they did make the movie a few years ago now. The overall quality of the imagery and the way they shot the film is exceptional also. They went all out on this film by the looks of things as you will see when you watch it, or not!
Being a directors cut, there are many more special features e.g. commentary, interviews of the cast, the making of the film etc. There is also a very ...
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Advantages: Great music, acting, editing and story Disadvantages: so many questions...leaves your head wanting all the answers
...This was actually the first version of DonnieDarko I saw, and in some ways i prefer it. There are some different choices of music, most noticeably the music used for the opening, and the inclusion of snippets of information read by Donni from "Grandma Death"'s book, which give some added depth to the story, and a few more keys to what might be going on. Overall this is a wonderful film, not only does it feature some typical teen movie aspects (love interest, school relationships etc) but it asks some soul searchingly deep questions regarding the exsistence of God and the possibilty set paths in which we tread. All this tied together with some brilliant acting, and some equally brilliant directing and editing. It will leave you wanting more....
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
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 DonnieDarkoDirectorsCut 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...
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Advantages: Interesting and entertaining Disadvantages: None
...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 from the regular DVD, which help with understanding of the film...
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Actor(s): Jake Gyllenhaal, Tom D'Andrea, Drew Barrymore, Noah Wyle, Patrick Swayze, Mary McDonnell, Katharine Ross, Jena Malone, Holmes Osborne
Director(s): Richard Kelly
Genre: Drama
Classification: 15 years and over
Production Year: 2001
Running Time: 2 hours 14 minutes
Video Category: Feature Film
Country Of Origin: United States of America
Release details
DVD Region: Region 2 (Europe)
Studio(s): METRODOME DISTRIBUTION; DELUXE VIDEO SERVICE - METRODOME
Release date: 08/08/2005
No of Discs: 1
Catalogue No: MTD 5209
Barcode: 5055002552090
Screenwriter: Adam Fields
Composer: Michael Andrews
Producer: Nancy Juvonen, Adam Fields, Sean McKittrick
Languages
Main Language: English
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.
Technical information
Special Features: All New Commentary With Richard Kelly And Kevin Smith
Aspect Ratio: 2.35 Wide Screen
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Dubbing Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 English
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