Donnie Darko - Director's Cut (Two Disc Set) [2002]

Amazon.co.uk Review

Donnie Darko is a thought-provoking, touching and distinctive offering from relative 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

Customer Reviews:

Obvious story line.......2008-02-03

I bought this because people kept going on about how brilliant it was. I buy films to be entertained, not to sit and over analyse things to the nth degree. This film is dull, i've watched it several times, just in case I wasn't paying attention. It's a film about a kid who doesn't take the meds he's supposed to and goes a bit nuts. End of story.

Amazing movie ! .......2008-01-30

this is one of my favorite movies, it great i would 100% recommend it, and it's one of those movies that after you see you talk about it for days afterwards, and you can see more than once,because theres so much to think about,i had to watch it a couple of times before i really understood it, and the 2nd time i saw it i noticed things i hadn't before. Only bad thing about this DVD is that i found the extra features pretty boring

Script writing in reverse.......2007-12-23

Richard Kelley has created a very complex movie in a very innovative but simple way. He has taken a number of unrelated high culture and pop culture references and weaved a script around them. Rather than fit appropriate references into the script, the script has been made to fit the references. The movie has, in effect, been written in reverse.

The references are mostly explicit and they include:

Harvey
Watership Down
The Destructors
Back to the Future
The Killing Moon
Mad World
David Lynch
John Hughes

For example, the lyrics of the Killing Moon and Mad World are so close to the plot (e.g. "fate up against your will, through the thick and thin, he will wait until you give yourself to him") that it's unlikely that he could have chosen the songs AFTER the script had been written. Instead, the plot has been inspired by the lyrics of the songs.

This is part of the reason the movie appears so complicated and has so many levels. Imagine taking some of your favourite songs, movies, books and film directors and then trying to fit them into a coherent story. It's almost impossible but Richard Kelley has succeeded. Throughout the movie, there are constant cross references between these elements, some essential to the plot and others deliberately misleading.

Kelley also shows great ability as a director. The visual style of the movie has an 'other-world' quality that is ideal for the script and is reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock.

Also, I've you've ever experienced any kind of mental instability this movie speaks to you like no other. Either by accident or design, he has captured the essence of what it is like to suffer from anxiety - a sense of detachment from yourself, almost a parallel existence with a feeling of impending disaster.

However, to fully appreciate Donnie Darko, you will have to concentrate and you will have to watch it several times.

One of the best ever!.......2007-10-08

For me, this film is one of my alltime favorites. It is a dark, allegoric and thought provoking movie. It is a thinking man`s movie. A must see.

Strange and good.......2007-10-07

This film is brilliant, very strange and leaves you thinking afterwards. If you haven't seen this before, i recommend you do because this is great

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