ONLY THEMATIC COMMENTS WITH SPOILERS, PART 2

Rating: 8/10 (9 December 2002)

PART 2: **SPOILERS EVERYWHERE**
That is the very general outline and now I'll get into it a bit more. The essence of what the film is about is summarized in the quote, `every body dies alone,' which is repeated throughout. What that means is that your death is only your own. No one can help you deal with it or help you understand it. DONNIE DARKO is about Donnie understanding and coming to terms with his own death. By the end of the film he sees the relevance of his death. As a result he ends up saving a lot of people's lives. The final shots of the film are brief cuts between faces of people that his death will affect. It is as if to say that all these people have no idea what a sacrifice he is making for them. One of the people whose face you see is Patrick Swayze's character. He happens to be crying, which again indicates that he is a sad and confused man rather than an evil person. Now the rabbit that visits Donnie has little to do with the character that Donnie kills later except to bridge the present with the eventual future (the same way the engine device does). The rabbit can be compared to the devil. He saves Donnie's life and as a result, Donnie listens to him unconditionally, before realizing that he has been fooled. I'm not sure about the old lady, but I think that she is a character that missed her chance to do what Donnie does at the end. Since she knows about the `time travel' she may have had a chance to use it, but chose not too. She has grown mad ever since. I cannot say anything about her definitely since I just did not pay enough attention to her story in my one viewing.
So now the film takes on a few meanings. Donnie Darko is like a superhero (hence the name) because, using his powers (time travel), he saves the lives of many by sacrificing himself. Like any hero, he is an outsider with deep thoughts and doubts about his destiny. His character dying for the people in his community can also be compared to Jesus Christ dying on the cross for everyone (Only symbolically, I'm not saying that Donnie is Jesus' equal). Donnie dies so that people's lives can be preserved. He even dies for the flawed ones such as Patrick Swayze's character (who now can be seen as a sort of false prophet) just like Jesus died for sinners. The reason that I am comparing Donnie to Jesus is because there is a very specific and very obvious reference to Scorsese's THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST in the movie. Donnie walks out of a theater where THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST is playing right after the movie he is watching. The shot moves up from Donnie's face to the title up on the board. It's a pretty obvious juxtaposition. THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST has a similar plot structure. Jesus imagines himself getting off the cross and continuing a normal life. He eventually realizes that he has been fooled into doing this by the devil and returns to die on his cross as intended. It is a mental struggle inside Jesus' mind. This is why the rabbit that visits Donnie can be seen as the devil. He leads Donnie on the wrong path. Both films have key sequences at the end that evoke similar meanings. Jesus climbs back onto his cross and Donnie climbs back into his bed. Both have come to understand the importance of their death and are no longer scared to die. But don't get me wrong. You do not need to have seen THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST in order to understand DONNIE DARKO. The reference is probably only the director's way of quoting his influence. Others have pointed out some references to Faust, which could lead a discussion in a similar direction.
Having said all that, I did like the movie. I do not think it is genius as it is nothing revolutionary and does have some holes. My main complaint is that while the atmosphere is out of a David Lynch film, the dialogue (like about the Smurfs) often seems to be Tarantino-like, and the actual themes that the film raises are seriously dramatic rather than scary as the atmosphere implies. It's a little bit messy. The ending does not come out of nowhere as it fits in fine with what has been built up, but the atmosphere created throughout most of the movie conceals what is significant. If you want to see a film that deals with the issues of fate, identity, and sacrifice more head-on, see THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. In my tedious explanation of the themes in DONNIE DARKO, I regret that I did not even get into what the movie's good qualities are, such as Richard Kelly's direction (for the most part; some complaints above). More important than all my answers and opinions are the questions that the movie raises. For example: Did Donnie actually decide that he should die, or was that predetermined fate anyway? I think I know what the movie says, but I don't know if I will watch it again any time soon to review my thoughts. Any movie that inspires some debate and discussion can't be bad. It made me write way more than I should have. I give it an 8 out of 10.