Troubled adolescent, Donnie Darko, receives a disturbing vision that the world will end in 28 days. With the help of various characters, including a 6 foot rabbit called Frank, he slowly discovers the mysterious physical and metaphysical laws that govern his life and that will lead up to the destruction of the universe.

This is yet another movie that I had to steal the synopsis of for two reasons. I didn’t want to give anything away for those who haven’t seen it and I’m still not sure what it’s about, even after 5 or 6 viewings. Actually, this movie was made with the intention of having multiple interpretations which is going to make it hard to do a full review. I can only tell you what I got out of it and that in a nutshell is, it made my head hurt from thinking about it. This may actually be the only movie that I had to research to find out what was going on, unlike Stay, which you figured out at the end. Well, at least I did. Here is the FAQ that helped me to understand the film better – http://www.stainlesssteelrat.net/ddfaq.htm.

It’s a great mind fuck movie, the tone is dark and there isn’t much happiness to be found. So if you are looking for a happy ending, look somewhere else. The soundtrack has a lot of good 80’s tunes on it. Tears For Fears and Duran Duran to name a few. I especially love Gary Jules version of “Mad World”.

So, I will stick to the casting and craftsmanship of the film itself as that each separate viewing reveals more and more details that change how you think of this movie. It has a lot of different levels to it. Time travel, what happens when you die and how the dead can affect the living, spirituality, and morality. Donnie may be a fucked up kid but in the end he does what’s right for the universe. I would love to hear your opinions on the film, so feel free to post. SPOILER: My view is that Donnie was doing what he can to give a reason for the engine being in existence. See the FAQ mentioned earlier for a deeper explanation.

Casting – The Darko family was perfectly cast. The opening scene of the family at dinner seemed pretty realistic to me. It didn’t hurt that Jake and Maggi Gyllenhaal are real life siblings. Mary McDonnell is great as Donnie’s mother. There is one scene between Rose Darko and Eddie Darko in a hotel room where they are lying n the bed and Rose has her head on Eddie’s stomach using it as a pillow. Its little things like that that I notice. They just seem to make it more real to me. Those who know me may be surprised at this. I think Drew Barrymore’s performance really sucked in this. Granted it’s a small part but Flower Films had a lot to do with this. You’d think she could show some enthusiasm. Noah Wyle does well with what he’s given. Jenna Malone doesn’t do anything for me. The role of Gretchen could have been played by almost any teen girl. James Duval as Frank was pretty creepy. And last but definitely not least – Patrick Swayze as a pervert. Priceless.

Final note, if you like mind fuck movies or movies that make you think. Go get this film! If you like movies that have a clean cut beginning, middle, and end, this may not be for you. It is one of my favorite movies. Thanks When Is There Soap When You Need It? for asking me to review this. It’s one that I would never have picked on my own because I knew it would be difficult.