Donnie Darko

2001 Fantasy

Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a bright and charming high-school student who also has a dark and willfully eccentric side; he does little to mask his contempt for many of his peers and enjoys challenging the authority of the adults around him. Donnie is also visited on occasion by Frank, a monstrous six-foot rabbit that only Donnie can see who often urges him to perform dangerous and destructive pranks. Late one night, Frank leads Donnie out of his home to inform him that the world will come to an end in less than a month; moments later, the engine of a jet aircraft comes crashing through the ceiling of Donnie's room, making him think there might be something to Frank's prophesies after all. The rest of Donnie's world is only marginally less bizarre, as he finds himself dealing with his confused parents (Mary McDonnell and Holmes Osborne), his college-age sister (Maggie Gyllenhaal), his perplexed analyst (Katherine Ross), a rebellious English teacher (Drew Barrymore), a sleazy self-help expert (Patrick Swayze), and the new girl at school who is attracted by Donnie's quirks (Jena Malone). Donnie Darko was the first feature film from writer and director Richard Kelly; Drew Barrymore, who plays teacher Karen Pomeroy, also lent her support to the project as executive producer. A director's cut played in select theaters on a limited basis in the summer of 2004, featuring original music cues and trimmed scenes originally in Kelly's first cut of the film. more..

Director: Richard Kelly

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Mary McDonnell,Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze

Reviews

  • Kelly, the 26-year-old writer-director of this excitingly original indie vision, shares more artistically with Wes Anderson or Paul Thomas Anderson than he does with Spielberg or John Hughes, but the point is, he's out on his own here. He swings big -- with flair.

    Lisa Schwarzbaum - Entertainment Weekly

    19 January 2013

  • Appealingly, the movie has a certain lightness -- like the aforementioned butterfly -- which makes its foreboding qualities surprisingly user-friendly.

    Desson Thomson - The Washington Post

    19 January 2013

  • David Lynch lite.

    Maitland McDonagh - TV Guide

    19 January 2013

  • If you let it be what it is, Donnie Darko will knock you flat.

    Jan Stuart - Los Angeles Times

    19 January 2013

  • Most experienced filmmakers wouldn't even attempt a film that's so blackly funny, that so rapidly shifts genres and tone, and that layers late '80s cultural references so thickly, from "E.T." to Smurfs.

    Lou Lumenick - New York Post

    19 January 2013

Awards

  • Best DVD Special Edition Release

    Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films (2006)

     
  • Richard Kelly

    Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival (2002)

  • Best Actor

    Chlotrudis Awards (2003)

  • Richard Kelly

    Cinénygma - Luxembourg International Film Festival (2002)

  • Best Foreign Film - English Language

    Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards (2003)