One of the year's best.

Rating: 10/10 (2 December 2002)

They say that the sign of a good movie is that you're still thinking about it after the credits have rolled. I was certainly thinking about this film after it ended - what had happened? Had the schizophrenice Donnie imagined the evetns of had he travelled back in time to make the ultimate sacrifice?
This film is both excellently written and directed by Richard Kelly, some of the highlights of the script include a discussion of the sex-life of smurfs and a scene in which one of the characters gives Donnie a cigarette and says 'good s***, huh?' To which Donnie replies ' Its a f***ing cigarette.' The film's dark atmosphere is reflected in the filming techniques, casting a lot of the screen in shadow.
The characters are all believable and identifiable. In particular, Beth Grant's psychotically conservative, god-loving Mrs Farmer. One of her best lines is when she tells Donnie's parents during a meeting with the principal that 'he told me to forcefully place it in my anus!' and Donnie and his father find it hard not to laugh. Again, Donnie's mother's frustration as she deals with this woman is fun to watch. Donnie's guardian angel, Frank the Bunny is chilling, from his terrifying mask to his rough voice. 'why do you wear that stupid bunny suit?' 'why do you wear that stupid man suit?' Drew Barrymore and Noah Wyle convey their characters well as great teachers struggling to teach their kids something beyond the prescribed syllabus and risking their jobs in the process and Patrick Swayze as an oh-so-eighties self-help guru with a chilling secret. Finally, the performance from Jena Malone as Donnie's bored, depressed girlfriend Gretchen Ross is excellent.
The story begins when Donnie is guided away from his house by an apparition called Frank the Bunny on the second of October 1988 and is told that there are 28 days left before the world ends. He returns home to find that the engine of a plane has fallen in to his bedroom. The bunny has saved his life. From them on, he does what his guardian angel tells him to do and tries to discover as much about himself and about time travel as he can before the world ends.
After the credits had rolled, I interpreted this film as the opposite of 'its a wonderful life'. I can not go into any more detail about this without spoiling the movie for me. What I will say is, do yourself a favour and see this film. It is one of the year's best.