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High-school movies have changed a-lot. From the rebellious teens from the 80's to the air-heads and watery-eyed teens of the 90's, Donnie Darko, in the 2000's, bought forward previously uncovered topics in a high-school themed film. Time-travel, the end of the world, surreal imagery and one freakin' large bunny. Most films like these either run on cliche scenes or unbelievable exploits of a certain teenager or a group but that's not the case in Donnie Darko. This film perfectly captures the emotions and behaviors of certain cliques and stock characters.
Well, the film opens with the title character cycling and eventually ending up in his home and in that title sequence, you realize that this is not your average family and this is confirmed by the dinner scene right after. The Darko family is a semi-functional normal-income family with a troubled son. Jake Gyllenhaal, for a newcomer, wasn't at all bad for his role. His excellent performance as the title character really connects with the audience and it makes us think whether is the character crazy or us or both? What really impressed me was his way of juxapositing two personalities, one sane and the other disturbed, at the same time. Following him are Holmes Osborne, the cranky father, Mary McDonnell as the used-to-but-not-given-up mother, Daveigh Chase as the minor of the family and real-life Jake's sister, Maggie as Donnie's sister. Rather great performances by almost everyone here.
Then we have the school. This chapter opens with the song Head Over Heels by Tears For Fears in the background while showing the school life in the halls. Not the typical ones they show in other movies. All I can say is that Richard Kelly really captured the mood, the atmosphere and the behaviors of the students convincingly whenever necessary. All in all, it reminded me of a similar move made by Metallica: Both were tackling unconventional and uncovered topics in their songs / movie. If you're tired of watching the same of cliche-filled teen movies, then give this a shot as you will be surprised by the authenticity of it and by the end of the movie, will leave you with questions:
Who is Frank? What does Donnie Darko mean by his last words? Did he imagine Frank? Was Frank an alter-ego of some sorts? Was Donnie crazy by nature or by nurture? Go ahead and watch the movie and let's see how many questions can you answer!
9.3/10
