A masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (15 February 2020)

Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a troubled teenager living in suburbia. He is on medication for psychological illnesses and he sleepwalks a lot. The film opens with him waking up in the countryside after another night of it. But the sleepwalking will save his life. In a freak accident, the engine from the wing of an airline jet falls from the sky and crashes through the roof of his bedroom. Following this incident, things begin to get a bit unhinged for Donnie. He starts to see a mysterious man in a rabbit costume, who tells him that the world is going to end in 28 days. This starts a series of events that involve Donnie with time travel, worm holes and other dimensions, all while he struggles with his mental health and all the other standard trials and tribulations of coming-of-age.
"Donnie Darko" is a masterpiece of a film made on a shoe-string budget that faded into obscurity upon it's release in 2001, but has deservedly attracted a cult following and garnered much critical appraise. With that assembled cast, it is a wonder it went unnoticed. Holmes Osbourne is superb as Donnie's "super cool" dad and his mother is well played by Mary McDonnell, while Patrick Swayze has no trouble slotting in here as a mysterious confidence-speaker, a great performance from the late heavyweight. Drew Barrymore is another notable performance as an English teacher. Jake Gyllenhaal has since made a name for himself as one of the finest actors in Hollywood. He was 20 years-old filming this, and what a start to a career that would lead on to leading roles in "Jarhead", "Brokeback Mountain" and "Southpaw". His sister, Maggie, stars aswell in an early performance.
Richard Kelly was a young man directing this, but what passion he displayed. An original and daring film, he would've known that he was doomed to commerical failure. I've only ever viewed the Director's Cut of the film, but I don't believe there is too much difference. A great soundtrack accompanies many dream-like and brilliantly staged scenes - the opening itself is beautiful, and how about the sweeping camera work of the school courtyard accompanied by the song "Head Over Heels" by Tears for Fears. "Donnie Darko" is an all round winner. The acting, music, directing, cinematography and, most of all, the writing. The cinema scene with "The Evil Dead" and Frank stands out in my mind as one of the best scenes in film history - "Why do you wear that stupid man suit?" It is a sort of climax to all the mystery, and again it is helped by a powerful performance by a young, casual and brooding Gyllenhaal.