A funny and modern Faust .. and more

Rating: 10/10 (15 September 2002)

This movie is something else. It's very funny, it's deep, it's well acted, and everything fits some way or another. It is in no way forced, too obvious or, worse, too philosophical. Still, it is pure literature. The story is about a high school boy, Donnie, who suffers from hallucinations about a huge rabbit ('Frank') telling him how to act and what to do. Frank is also predicting the end of the world. There are so many layers in this movie that it's impossible to mention them all. The story follows, in one way, the classical tragedy of Faust, who wants to learn more than book-wisdom with the help of the Devil. (There are clear references to Goethe's Faust in the movie: Donnie's girlfriend is called Gretchen and the final episode takes place at Halloween, at midnight. You should find out all the allusions for yourself.) However, this movie is more than 'just' a search for the meaning of life. It is a search for the role of time in our lives, for the meaning of love, of human company, of society in our time. It also offers an interesting retrospective at the 80s. It is, most of all, a searching for, and finding of, Fate. Go see this very original and wonderful movie, you won't regret it.