Movies
Donnie Darko
Dark comedy, photographically as much as temperamentally, about a disturbed adolescent (Jake Gyllenhaal of October Sky) who has an imaginary friend in a demonic bunny suit giving him mischief-making orders. (The bunny's end-of-the-world forecast, however, carries little weight when the action is set in the thick of Dukakis's run for the Presidency.) First-time filmmaker Richard Kelly, age twenty-six, reveals an individual voice and an eccentric sense of humor (i.e., sometimes actually funny), and even when he hits predictable notes (e.g., the Grundy-ish old crone on the high-school faculty, who, when asked whether she knows who Graham Greene is, responds, "I think we have all seen Bonanza"), he hits them at his own unforced pace. Much the same can be said for his frugal use of special effects. The time-travel resolution is nonsensical even by time-travel standards, and it has the effect of wiping the slate clean in the chicken-hearted fashion of the it-was-all-a-dream convention. "Clever" is the compliment it was fishing for. "Gimmicky" might be the reasonable compromise. Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, Mary McDonnell, Patrick Swayze, Noah Wyle. 2001.
Reader Rating:
MPAA Rating: R
Silly rabbit. Tricks are for magicians. And hookers. Frank the Rabbit jumps out of the frying hat and into the Darko world, where universes briefly collide just long enough to cause ripple effects that have the potential to destroy all reality. When our titular Donnie finds himself falling down the hallucinogenic rabbit hole of his own universe, it's up to Frank the Bunny, one of the “manipulated dead,” who are charged with the task of at least attempting to mend the damage, to save all of creation. Whether he wants to or not.
Yeah, it's a weird-ass flick ---- it’s got all sorts of Serling/M Night/O Henry turnarounds of all you thought you knew. Starts out all Breakfast Club, and then takes a left turn into Liquid Sky and Repo Man. Well worth a looksee, as is the wonky (but still worthy) sequel S Darko, with Donnie's little sister Samantha seeing (and saving?) the world (well, one world anyway) from the Rabbit's feet ----
By jayallen 10:37 a.m., Oct 15, 2009 > Report it
The movie was good. It has its flaws. I had a 30 minute debate with Roger Ebert about it. He gave it a thumbs down (and this is the guy who gave thumbs up to Congo and Anaconda!) He told me that he watched it a second time, after getting more mail on this movie than any review he had ever done before. He said upon a second viewing, he liked it and understood it, a lot more. He changed his thumb to "up".
Nice role for Swayze as a child porn creep.
By JoshBoard 8:41 a.m., Dec 16, 2009 > Report it