Director: Richard Kelly
Notable Cast: Jake
Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Mary McDonnell, Holmes Osborne, Katharine Ross, Maggie
Gyllenhaal, Daveigh Chase, James Duval, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze, Noah
Wyle
When Donnie Darko
first came out in 2001, I was entranced. I was a fifteen year old, genre movie
obsessed young man and this film spoke to me like Frank the Bunny did to Donnie. It’s a
film that’s artistic, fun, insightful, and was perfectly timed for my
generation of blooming cinephiles. It’s dark, but still off beat enough in its
presence and well executed that it stuck with me through the last decade and a
half. As an adult now, the film might be even better as the layers of its
distinctively odd Twilight Zone
inspired coming of age tale start to open up with repeated viewings and one can
see just how weirdly detailed it is at embracing its premise. Fortunately, I’m
not the only one that sees the appeal of its artistic and cult cinema blending
as Arrow Video have dropped the quintessential release of the film. Those who
were fans of the early Richard Kelly work, those new to the film, or those
perhaps willing to overlook the strange Hot Topic powered hype that kick
started well after the initial release of the film should definitely take
another look at Donnie Darko in this
latest release. Not only does it properly showcase the film as the piece of
cinematic art it is, but it’s a release to impress those who may not even like
it .
Donnie (Gyllenhaal) has been struggling with some things
lately. He’s an outcast in his school and he’s working through some issues with
a therapist. However, when he dodges death by plane engine from a random bout
of sleep walking, he starts to think that perhaps things are on a path to a
destiny he has yet to see. When a cryptic rabbit named Frank starts to show him
things though, he may find that his destiny is to change what cannot be
changed…
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| ...a storm is brewing. |
The reason that Donnie
Darko remains as relevant now as it did when it was released is the fact
that the film is expertly well rounded. You could label it a science fiction
film, a coming of age drama, a dark comedy, or numerous other things and you
wouldn’t be wrong. Donnie Darko is
all of those things. Director/writer Richard Kelly, in his debut film, simply
knocks it out of the park. The narrative structure needed to be fluid to be
able to navigate all of the curves and pitfalls of each of the above listed
genres and it ably does so here. It develops its story as a kind of mystery for
the audience, allowing them to learn along with Donnie, about what is going on
and still keeping things vague and efficient enough to remain a film open for
interpretation from its audience. This balance between making a film that feels
like it has purpose and one that can be analyzed from different standings is truly
and artform and Donnie Darko nails it. Depending on which version you watch
that is included in this set is the kind of detailed experience you will have.
The director’s cut of the film, featuring almost a half hour of extra material,
delves further into the layers and explanation of the time travel concept while
the theatrical cut remains more vague and open to interpretation on what
happens, particularly in the final act. I might prefer the theatrical cut for
that reason, but having both versions opens up a lot of discussion about what
the film is intending to say and that makes it a huge bonus for fans of the
film.
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| Eye see you. |
It helps that, despite being a film with a decently small
budget, it plays out like the big leagues in execution. Richard Kelly keeps
things moving briskly for the entire film, the vague elements of its time
travel spins and character focused writing being the core to its success, and
he uses clever ways of building the film to get there. Having the film take
place in 1988 is a strong indicator of such and it allows the film to use a lot
of subtle political and pop culture elements to world build (the use of 80s pop
music is some of the best uses of commercial songs in film that I’ve seen) while
it gives the film the occasional “another time, another place” tone that feeds
into the science fiction and fantasy elements that arise. These genre elements,
as I mentioned before, give the film a Twilight
Zone inspired approach where the twists may be fueled by reveals in the
third act, but the centered focus on characters makes it work. Whether or not the
time travel pieces are real, based on your reading of the film, it uses them in
such a way that works for the characters to grow and give a strange foundation
to its coming of age story. Characters that are expertly performed in both
bigger than life and very subtle ways that only garner more favor on repeated
viewings.
Granted, Donnie Darko
is not a film for everyone and there are certain expectations that go with a
film that garners this much hype even over a decade and a half later. It’s a
film that moves from subtle drama, to surrealistic fantasy, to shocking dark
comedy, and all the way back. If you’re not willing to buy into any one element
then the film does tend to crumble, but if you’re willing to sit back and
immerse yourself in the world of a teenager who thinks he may have stumbled
onto the understanding of time travel all the while trying to balance out his
life…then enjoy the brilliance of what Richard Kelly has for you here.
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| Friends. Gotta have 'em. |
As mentioned before, this latest release for Donnie Darko by Arrow Video is the be
all, end all of releases for it. It’s packed with all kinds of collector items,
including the box set itself, post cards, and poster, while giving fans both
cuts of the film and a slew of extras. Just look at the list below and don’t
try and wet yourself. Things like twenty (20!) deleted and alternate scenes
with commentary are enough to make most collectors drool, but that’s just the
tip of the iceberg when it comes to digging into this box set. Truthfully, by
the time this review is posted, I still won’t even be through half of what it
has to offer as it’s that extensive. God bless Arrow Video as this is something
like a holy grail for this film and its fans.
ARROW VIDEO FEATURES:
Written By Matt Reifschneider
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