Donnie Darko

Directed by: Richard Kelly
Written by: Richard Kelly
Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Mary McDonnell, Drew Barrymore, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Patrick Swayze,

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Donnie Darko, a troubled but intelligent teenager in the late 1980s'. He doesn't get along with his family (including his real life sister Maggie Gyllenhaal), his teacher, and his friends at school. He finds comfort in meeting Gretchen (Jena Malone), who agrees to date him. He also goes to a psychiatrist, who puts him through hypnosis. His other friend is imaginary, a bunny rabbit named Frank, who prophesies that the world will come to an end soon.

Although the film was always meant to be set in 1988, director Richard Kelly admitted he felt pressured to make the setting more contemporary. However, he could not figure out how to make the story work in such a setting and retained the original setting. In an interview with BBC, Kelly said he "set out to write something ambitious, personal, and nostalgic about the late 80s". Frank, the giant rabbit, was inspired by the novel Watership Down, which was to be taught in English class after the school had censored Graham Greene, a plot point that was abandoned in the final version. Newer information has shown the costume could also have been an inspiration from a dream Kelly had.

The film has supernatural events that unfold. For example, early in the film, Donnie's room gets destroyed by an engine from an airplane, but Donnie wasn't there to witness it. The film also discusses elements of time-travel, with Donnie and a teacher talking about wormholes, and Donnie references "Back To The Future". Frank causes Donnie to commit some heinous acts, such as burning down the house of a self-help professional speaker (Patrick Swayze).

This was my first time watching Donnie Darko, and I went into it with no expectation. I ended up really enjoying myself. I thought Jake Gyllenhaal did a very good job as Donnie. He captures the emotion as well as the scare factor. In the scenes when he's with Gretchen, he is the nice and charming young man. By contrast, in the scenes when he's with Frank, he puts on an evil smile. That gave me the creeps when I first saw it. The other performances are really strong in the film. I liked that Maggie Gyllanhaal played Donnie's sister in the film. I also enjoyed the ending of the film, and its something to think about. Overall, I enjoyed Donnie Darko.

8/10