A masterpiece of the indie film scene

Rating: 10/10 (4 March 2004)

Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) lives in a quiet suburban town called Middlesex. We enter his story during what seems to be a typical family dinner. Set brilliantly in 1988, the movie opens with a reference to the Presidential race, with Donnie's sister (played by Jake's real life sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal) announcing her support for Dukakas. What ensues is a heated family debate. The head of the family, Eddie Darko (Holmes Osborne) and his wife Rose (Mary McDonnell) seem to have little control over their children at the dinner table as argument persists and expletives fly. We soon learn that Donnie is not only on medication but seeing a psychiatrist. Rounding out the Darko family is the young, adorable Samantha (Daveigh Chase).
The audience is quickly drawn into Donnie's mind as we experience his first encounter with the six foot tall talking rabbit Frank (James Duvall). Frank carries a message concerning the end of the world. Having lead Donnie to a local golf course, he gives Donnie the exact number of days, hours, minutes and seconds until the universe's demise.
When Donnie awakes the following morning with the course owner and Jim Cunningham (Patrick Swayze) looming over him, he quickly stumbles home. As he approaches his home, he realizes that, over night, it has become the scene of a disaster narrowly avoided. For reasons unbeknownst to anyone, including the FAA, a jet engine has fallen through the Darko's roof and straight through Donnie's bed. What follows this incident is Donnie's struggle to understand why this has happened, what is going to happen next, why Frank has chosen him and to answer many, many questions that have complicated answers.
While this may sound overly complicated (and be sure that it is not easy to figure out), there are several characters along the way that add pieces to the puzzle. There's the new girl in school, Gretchen (Jena Malone) who begins a romantic fling with Donnie; there's the annoying gym teacher Mrs. Farmer (Beth Grant) who reports Donnie's behavior to the principal; there Donnie's English teacher Ms. Pomeroy (Drew Barrymore) and his Science teacher Professor Monnitoff (Noah Wiley) who both introduce clues that will be largely beneficial. Every single one of these characters, amongst others, is vitally important to understanding the complex story at work.

As Frank plants the ideas of time travel in Donnie's head, the viewer is forced to constantly question everything he or she has concluded up to a certain point. Donnie is involved in some criminal activity while following Frank. All of this leads to new discoveries. Nothing is a coincidence in this movie. And nothing is exactly what it seems.
Is Donnie insane? Well, I can answer that one way and you could, after watching, answer it another and we could both be right. The beauty of this film, which defies classification, is that it seamlessly blends many genres to tell a story that is entirely new. It would surprise me to find someone who could honestly say they `got' the entire meaning of the movie on first viewing. There is a definite satisfaction when you watch it for the first time, but it requires several viewings to uncover the many rich layers.