Well, I finally got to see it. Donnie Darko has become some sort of a cult classic and for some reason I had never come accross it either at the theatre or on TV, and it was my teenage son who came up with the idea of renting it last night.
What a pleasant surprise it was.
Although at some point it looks like a coming of age movie, a teen comedy or a teen slasher flick, it combines elements from these three genres with some dark humour and supernatural themes to create something really unique.
Donnie Darko is a mature and brilliant teenage boy with schizophrenia problems who sleepwalks. He has weekly sessions with a therapist who tries to get to the bottom of Donnie's problems. He then starts to see a giant bunny who gives him instructions which he carries out, things like flooding his high school or burning someone's house. On the other hand, Donnie tries to survive high school as well as he can, dealing with friendship, love and social acceptance. His life is a complicated series of events which inevitably come to an abrupt and complicated climax.
Donnie is surrounded by a multitude of quirky characters ranging from a controlling teacher, the usual high school bullies, his tragedy ridden girlfriend, an old neighbour suffering from dementia, and his imaginary bunny friend. These array of strange characters give the movie a special appeal. It is evident that the director, Richard Kelly, decided to create an environment where nothing was normal. Surprisingly enough for an American movie, he decided to make Donnie's family completely normal and supportive. That I found confusing, giving the overall tone of the film.
Given the complexity of the story, it's difficult to summarise the strange events that ultimately occur at the climax of the movie, which I'd need to see again to totally understand (remember Inception?) but in short, Donnie unravels a time travel mystery in a book which was written by his old and crazed neighbour. Once he solves this, he decides it's best for him to die, placing himself in the spot where a lost airplane turbine will fall on his house. He gives up his life so his girlfriend can survive.
I strongly recommend this movie, although I understand its not just for everyone. My son and I enjoyed it, but I'm sure my wife and daughter would have walked out after 15 minutes. A too heavy and intricate story overloaded with strange and disturbing characters Perfect for a Saturday night at home.
This is, at least, my opinion, and I could be wrong.
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