Donnie Darko Movie Review 2001

Stylish, exciting debut by writer/director Kelly that, like "Mulholland Drive," leaves much unexplained as dark doings occur in an idyllic suburb, circa 1988. Aptly named Darko family is full of complex characters, including the gifted but schizophrenic Donny, a teenager able to see the future with the aid of a life-size, doomsday-spewing rabbit named Frank. Donny's psychiatrist (Ross) discovers he's sleepwalking on Frank's orders, which actually saves his life when a jet engine falls from a plane, landing squarely in the teen's bedroom. Even more mysteriously, no plane has reported a missing engine, which turns out to be just one of the many eerie events that may be real or imagined. McDonnel and Osborne are both fine as Donny's upper- middle class Republican parents. Like "Harvey" on anti-psychotic meds, this challenging and complex film is worth the effort.

Distribution

Fox Home Entertainment, PO Box 900, Beverly Hills, CA 90213, Phone: (310)369-3900, Toll-free: 888-223-4FOX, Fax: (310)369-5811, URL: http://www.foxmovies.com/index1.html, Remarks: Also known as Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 113 minutes.
Originally from United States.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Sanity Check, Family Ties, Teen Angst, Period Piece: 1980s, Rabbits

Screenplay

Richard Kelly

Cast

Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, Mary McDonnell, James Duval, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Holmes Osborne, Katharine Ross, Patrick Swayze, Noah Wyle, Arthur Taxier, Stuart Stone

Cinematography

Steven Poster

Director

Richard Kelly

Music

Michael Andrews

Other

Coleman Metts, Manish Raval, Tom Wolfe, Sam Bauer, Eric Strand, April Ferry, Alexander Hammond

Producer

Nancy Juvonen, Adam Fields, Sean McKittrick, Flower Films, Pandora Film, Newmarket Films