Donnie Darko Review
by Harvey S. Karten (film_critic AT compuserve DOT com)November 6th, 2001
DONNIE DARKO
Reviewed by Harvey Karten
Newmarket Films
Director: Richard Kelly
Writer: Richard Kelly
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, Mary McDonnell, Holmes Osborne, Katharine Ross, Patrick Swayze, Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Duval
Screened at: AMC, NYC, 11/05/01
Schizophrenia's no fun. Those afflicted with the disease withdraw into themselves, displaying what to a rational person is bizarre behavior. Schizophrenics are the people you're likely to see bundled up in a corner or begging coins, homeless, smoking in an attempt to ward off some of their demons. If they take medication, the edgier symptoms might be averted. What pains schizophrenics is that they often have no defenses
and therefore can see the world exactly as it is. Not for them the Sega games to take their minds off the stark actuality of our existence. They are heirs to existential angst, the kind of dread that leads some teenagers into behaving like peculiar.
In "Donnie Darko," a stunning first full film feature by Richard Kelly who serves as both director and writer, the title character is 18 years old (Jake Gyllenhaal who, in real life is 26--which is also the same real-life age of his English teacher played by Drew Barrymore). While the young man is delusional, his hallucination of choice is a six-foot, bug-eyed, menacing rabbit named Frank-- who appears to be the opposite of the good-natured bunny in Mary Chase's "Harvey" but proves to be valuable enough to save not only Donnie's life but the world's. Donnie undergoes psychotherapy on the couch of Dr. Lillian Thurman (Katharine Ross) while the kids and teachers in his school undergo another form of therapy conducted by the shyster motivational speaker, Jim Cunningham (Patrick Swayze). While his parents, Rose (Mary McDonnell) and Eddie (Holmes Osborne) have adjusted to their son's illness, Donnie fits in only with his new girlfriend, a classmate who is chasing her own demons, Gretchen Ross (Jena Malone). The picture opens with a bang as a jet engine falls through the roof of the Darko household, with Donnie's life saved by a message from Frank the rabbit which gets him somnambulistically out of the house in time. As the story progresses, we learn that Donnie is marking off the calendar, dreading the date that Frank warns him the world will end.
"Donnie Darko" portrays the dark side of teenage life not in the moronic style of the usual teen movies featuring Freddie Prinze Jr. and others of his ilk but more in the style of Sam Mendes' slicker, more commercial "American Beauty." As the Kevin Spacey character in that drama has a near-psychotic break, seeing the inauthenticity of his life, so does Donnie, who is without psychological defenses, see the hypocrisy of the then President Reagan's materialistic era with its con artists and bankrupt educational system. "Donnie Darko" is a commendable blend of genres from dark comedy to sci-fi exploration to classic psychological thriller. Featuring a remarkable performance by Jake Gyllenhaal ("October Sky,"), who redeems himself from his hapless title role in the putrid "Bubble Boy," the film leaves the viewer deliberately with strings untied. Is "Donnie Darko," like "Mulholland Falls" largely a dream? Whether or not this is the case, what is the real nature of Donnie's action to save his own family and perhaps the entire world? Kelly explores time travel in the spirit of Jules Verne and psychological inquiry as would John Hughes. Though Donnie's outbursts at one of his teachers, a cranky, censorious woman who tries to pigeonhole a problem, and at the crackpot inspirational speaker, are old hat, there's enough satire, comedy, science fiction and thrills to satisfy a demanding, mature audience.
Rated R. Running time: 118 minutes. (C) 2001 by
Harvey Karten, [email protected]
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