Donnie Darko (DVD)

...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 ...
...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 ...

FlameDruid 03.11.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Donnie Darko (DVD)

...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 · Read full review
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Review of Donnie Darko (DVD)

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 · Read full review
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Review of Donnie Darko (DVD)

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 · Read full review
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Review of Donnie Darko (DVD)

...***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 · Read full review
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Review of Donnie Darko (DVD)

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 · Read full review
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Review of Donnie Darko (DVD)

...leading showcase for independent cinema), Donnie Darko has since recieved great acclaim for its thought provoking and highly original story. As an independent film, the visual effects rival those seen in some top blockbuster movies, which is something unusual in the sphere of independent cinema until very recent years. The film is imaginative director Richard Kelly's debut achievement - think along the lines of Catcher in the Rye with some sci-fi ...
...in the life of teenager Donnie Darko, a disturbed but nevertheless endearing character (28 days being the amount of time left till the world ends - what is this thing with the number 28? see '28 days later'). He sleepwalks (often miles from home and waking up on the golfcourse) and is on medication for his schizophrenia/psychosis. He has an imaginary friend - a guy in a rabbit costume called Frank, and it is he who tells Donnie that the world will ...

funkyfiend 19.03.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Donnie Darko (DVD)

...so glad I did. Donnie Darko is the first film from director Richard Kelly (II) who also wrote it. As a film Donnie Darko cannot easily be slotted into any genre as it defies categorisation. It is part fantasy, science fiction, coming of age, social comment, black comedy, horror, mental illness story, philosophy but ultimately it is just Donnie Darko - a phenomenon unto itself. I can honestly say it is one of the most original films I have ever seen. ...
...(I dont know why?) and Donnie is a 15 year old boy who suffers from a form of schizophrenia and is prone to sleepwalking incidents. He has been in trouble in the past and takes medication and is undergoing analysis from Dr Lilian Thurman (played by Katherine Ross of Graduate and Butch Cassidy fame). One night Donnie is woken by a voice calling him out into the garden and is confronted by the rabbit who tells him that the world will end in 28 days, ...

buzios 19.05.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Donnie Darko (DVD)

...Potter, I’m looking at you). Donnie Darko is one such film. While I don’t recall many trailers et al when this came out at the cinema, Empire gave it the extremely rare and coveted five stars – and so do I cos it’s worth every one of them. But at the time I was dubious, Empire said it was great – but a lot of their reviewers seem to have rather too much of a fondness for foreign language and the artsy type films – ...
...Gyllenhaal takes the part of Donnie Darko, and really makes it his. “Donnie Darko; that sounds like a superhero” “How do you know I’m not?” Class. He has been critically acclaimed in other films, including The Good Girl, with Jennifer Aniston, but I think from now on, he’ll always be Donnie Darko to me (doesn’t harm that he’s just the cutest thing as well). Donnie is a teenager suffering from a mental ...

MonkeyMoo 22.04.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Donnie Darko (DVD)

Donnie Darko? What the hell kind of name is that? It's like some sort of superhero or something. Donnie Darko, teenager, paranoid schizophrenic who has a tendency to see time-travelling six foot bunnies. Don't be discouraged. If you are indifferent to the mass of mediocre movies that are released all too often, Donnie Darko is something you may wish to consider watching; it is an ironic, imaginative, darkly humorous film which creates its own genre ...
...it will end, unless responsible Donnie finds out how to stop it; with the great weight of the world on his shoulders. The movie boasts an array of unique characters whose storylines, (that at first seem unrelated and irrelevant) tie together in one mind-crumbling/blowing/numbing storyline in a culmination at the film's memorable climax. Donnie Darko - The mentally manic character who is given the responsibility to "save the world" as it were as he ...

j_mcb 26.04.2003 (07.07.2003) · Read full review
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Review of Donnie Darko (DVD)

...listeners that he had seen Donnie Darko. He told them it was complete rubbish, then did a quick poll. I was much relieved when the poll was 75% in favour of the film. This review is written to try and put right what Chris said! Not enough people have seen this film. I only saw it because it went round our 6th form common room, one person bought it and recommended it, so loaned it to everyone in turn. I then went and paid for it myself! instead of ...
...Firstly we are introduced to Donnie and his family. He's a teenager, but is a crazy person. He's seeing a psychiatrist and on medication for it. Then one day, a giant bunny type creature lures him out of his house through thoughts in his mind (speaking telepathically). Now, whilst he's out of the house, a giant plane engine drops on top of the house. Had Donnie been in his bed, he would have died. But no one was killed. This story is all about fate. ...

C_W_Monkey 11.03.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Donnie Darko (DVD)

...rate this years 'cult must-see', Donnie Darko. Having read about a gazillion features, interviews and promos before parting with my cash, I was sure I was going to stumble into a movie gem. I had read that this film 'throws away the rule book on movie-making' and that the story would stay with me for weeks after I had seen it. Well, two days later and I'm struggling to remember exact details but here goes... Donnie Darko is a teenage kid in suburban ...
...to a therapist - but Donnie is his own man, and sometimes 'forgets' to take his medication, resulting in hallucinations, sleepwalking, and acting in all manner of irrational ways. All of which means that when you watch this film, you are never sure of what's actually happening, and what's just going on in Donnie's head. I hate to say this, but I find this device irritating. I want to know what's really going on! Donnie is visited one night by a ...

ShoppingGirl 29.10.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Donnie Darko (DVD)

...to do with Tarantino but Donnie Darko is one of the most innovative and visually compelling films that I have ever seen. Donnie Darko came to American cinema screens in 2002 but as far as I know it never came to the UK cinema. However in 2003 in came out on DVD and my sister bought it because it sounded very intriguing. As Richard Kelly's directorial debut it really is one of the most brilliant yet confusing films ever and I do warn you that if you ...
...the plot forward to you. Donnie Darko focuses on the life of a young American teenage boy. We learn from the very beginning of the film that Donnie isn't quite like all of the other students and has many emotional problems for which he sees a Psychiatrist. Donnie's problem lies completely on the fact that at times in his life he is visited by a six foot rabbit called Frank. Are you intrigued or scared at the moment? On one occasion Donnie sleepwalks ...

mamba17 29.11.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Donnie Darko (DVD)

...the late 1980's, and the Donnie of the title is an intelligent and confident teenager who also happens to be seeing a psychiatrist. You see, Donnie is friends with a six-foot bunny rabbit named Frank, who wakes him one night to warn him that the world will end in twenty-eight days, six hours, forty-two minutes and twelve seconds. Not only that, but while he's out of the house, a jet engine drops through the roof of Donnie's bedroom - an event that ...
...there a higher purpose at work here, or is Frank merely a figment of Donnie's troubled imagination? As the days count down, even stranger thing begin to happen in Donnie's life... While the plot may seem intriguing (and rightly so), perhaps the most impressive thing about Richard Kelly's debut is the multitude of interesting characters, all ably played by a strong cast. Carrying the film on his shoulders is Jake Gyllenhaal, mesmerising as the titular ...

TJ-Mackey 09.10.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Donnie Darko (DVD)

...Best I've Ever Had Donnie sees things. More specifically Donnie sees a six- foot rabbit that calls himself Frank who shows him things. Is Frank really a time-traveller as he says? Is he really able to show Donnie wormholes connecting to other dimensions? If, as it is said our destinies are pre-ordained by God, would God exist if you could see where your destiny was taking you? Does that then prove the philosophy of existentialism or is that naively ...
...clad dance troupe "Sparkle Motion". Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) gets good grades at school. The trouble is he is weird-a complement when used by his girlfriend Gretchen (Jena Malone). Donnie is visiting a shrink, Dr Thurman (Katherine Ross) who is treating him with hypnotism trying to get to the source of his apparent schizophrenia and behavioural problems. He is taking tablets to cure him -Dr Thurman wants to raise the dose. The trouble is, if Donnie ...

gerb 13.11.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Donnie Darko (DVD)