The next movie on the list is Donnie Darko.  I am not going to try and explain it or tell you what I think it’s about because when it gets right down to it, I have very little idea.  I just enjoyed the trip. This was the debut for writer/director Richard Kelly and it looked like he was one to watch.  That really hasn’t been the case so far.  Five years after Darko, he released his follow up, Southland Tales which was a huge disappointment and has a movie called The Box coming out in November which looks to be equally forgettable.  Still though, Darko was one of the most interesting movies of the decade, so we can hold out some hope that he’ll eventually realize his promise.

The title character of the movie is a troubled teenager in a suburban Christian school played by Jake Gyllenhaal.  He is in therapy and heavily medicated.  (By the way, his therapist is played by none other than Elaine Robinson.  Some may know her has Kathryn Ross.  Where has she been for the last 25 years?)  Why exactly is he in therapy?  It’s hard to say at the beginning.  His family seems normal enough and it’s not like he is  completely without friends.  He’s funny and obviously smarter than the other kids in school.  Maybe it’s the evilish man-sized rabbit named Frank that visits him at night telling him that the world is going to end in 28 days.  Frank apparently gives Donnie images and sends him messages on how he may be able to save the world.  Along with this, Donnie averts being killed by a 747 engine that crashes in his room one night because he is on one of the sleep walking adventures that Frank sends him on.  There’s really a lot going on here; too much for me to try to explain.  While it all sounds like sort of a confusing mess, it’s not.  At least not really.  We have teen angst, scary rabbits, time travel and worm holes.  You may not ever come to a pitch-perfect conclusion here, but there’s a lot to talk to about and you can at least come up with your own idea.

I am cutting the plot short because there are some other things that I want to mention.  Darko takes place in 1988 during the presidential elections and Donnie goes to a Christian school.  There are plenty of religious and political undertones here, but Kelly doesn’t bog you down with them.  He also does a great job at creating a surreal and suburban late eighties feel.  In particular there is a great music montage of the goings on of the school to Tears for Fears, Head over Heals.  There are also some great characters and acting throughout.  Gyllenhall is very good.  I usually think he’s good, but this was one of the times where he was particularly good.  He captures the over-medicated ADD teenager of the late eighties perfectly (thanks Bob).  I also want to give a special shout out to Patrick Swayze who probably had the performance of his career as the kiddy porn and Jesus loving motivational speaker who takes an active role at Donnie’s school.  He really is hilarious in this. Check this scene out.

This was a really difficult movie for me to write about.  It’s very hard to summarize and try to explain to someone who hasn’t seen it.  I would assume most people reading this have.  It starts out as a dreamy and surreal look at teenage life in the late eighties that ends up taking you in all sorts of directions.  All teenagers have the fantasy of saving the world (thanks again Bob), and Donnie is given a chance… we think.  This is a great movie to get lost in and if you haven’t seen it and don’t mind having to think a little when watching a movie, definitely check it out.  It really works for multiple viewing too.