Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut (19 January 2001)
directed by Richard Kelly
starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Holmes Osborne, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Daveigh Chase, Mary McDonnell, James Duval, Patrick Swayze, Jena Malone, Noah Wyle, Drew Barrymore, Patience Cleveland, Katharine Ross, Ashley Tisdale
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MPAA rating: Studio: Pandora Cinema, Flower Films, Gaylord Films Script: Richard Kelly Music: Michael Andrews Running time: 133 minutes Tags: arson; death; Drama; hypnosis; murder; Science Fiction; time travel Tactical strength: [7/10]
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for language, some drug use and violence
Several of my co-workers started raving one day about Donnie Darko. Since they seemed so excited about the movie, I backed away from the conversation to avoid spoilers and decided to watch the movie to see what had them so excited. I have to admit that generally I liked Donnie Darko, but I think the ambiguous ending and the cultural commentary distracted from an otherwise well-made film.
Our teenage hero, Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal), wakes up one morning in the middle of the road. He smiles, like he sees the unspoken joke in the situation, calmly mounts his nearby bicycle, and rides home. We learn that Donnie has great test scores, sees a psychiatrist (Katharine Ross), takes medication (irregularly) for schizophrenia, and at some time in the past burnt down an empty house. Unexpectedly, writer and director Richard Kelly doesn't lean on stereotypes. Donnie's parents (Holmes Osborne and Mary McDonnell) provide a comfortable home and don't seem to abuse or ignore their children. The family seems to regularly eat breakfast and dinner together, and although we see some sibling rivalry, we note that Donnie has reasonably if not indulgent parents.
One night Donnie hears a voice that he follows to the golf course neighboring his home. The voice emanates from a man dressed in a big bunny suit with floppy ears and a evil insect-like face. The bunny (James Duval) calls himself Frank and tells Donnie the world will end in twenty-six days. We get the implication that Donnie's medication either creates or aggravates his condition, and this and other events early on establish Donnie as an unreliable narrator. We don't really believe that Frank exists outside Donnie's head, but several of Donnie's acts provide cosmic retribution for other characters' misdeeds of which Donnie couldn't have any knowledge. And, Frank's intervention saves Donnie from dying when a jet engine falls that night through Donnie's bedroom. Strangely, the FAA doesn't have any reports of a jet missing a engine.
Donnie starts to develop a relationship with classmate Gretchen (Jena Malone) who has a troubled past of her own -- her father stabbed her mother multiple times. Also, Donnie starts to ask questions of his science teacher Mr. Monnitoff (Noah Wyle) about time travel. Monnitoff gives Donnie a book called The Philosophy of Time Travel written in 1944 by a local woman, Roberta Sparrow (Patience Cleveland). The book describes how a tangent universe will temporarily exist parallel to the primary universe. In the director's cut, Kelly makes scene transitions using the text from the book. I'll quote a few relevant passages:
This intent of this book is for it to be used as a simple and direct guide in a time of great danger.If a Tangent Universe occurs, it will be highly unstable, sustaining itself for no longer than several weeks.
When a Tangent Universe occurs, those living nearest to the Vortex will find themselves at the epicenter of a dangerous new world.
Artifacts provide first sign that a Tangent Universe has occurred.
The Living Receiver is chosen to guide the Artifact into position for its journey back to the Primary Universe.
No one knows how or why a Receiver will be chosen.
The Living Receiver is often tormented by terrifying dreams, visions and auditory hallucinations during his time within the Tangent Universe.
We are told that these things occur for a reason.
Given this information that comes from the director's cut, we can see that Donnie Darko does follow a certain internal logic. Donnie (The Living Receiver) lives in the Tangent Universe, and he must send the Artifact (the jet engine) back to the Primary Universe. So the text from the book provides an explanation for the events in the film, except for the reason the tangent universe split in the first place.
To explain my major problem with Donnie Darko requires that I discuss the ending. Before I get to the spoilers, let me say that I did like Donnie Darko, but not in the fanatic way that I have observed in others. Kelly has directed excellent performances from his cast and created an interesting character that you hope can recover from whatever torments him -- internal or external.
--- S p o i l e r A l e r t ---
As far as people in the Primary Universe know, a jet engine falls out of nowhere and kills Donnie Darko, which leaves the possibility that the entire movie expresses a construction of Donnie's brain as a jet engine falls through his head. Sure, the movie proposes that if Donnie hadn't operated as the Living Receiver, then a black hole would have annihilated the Earth. But then again, it may be that Donnie just thinks that as tons of turbine blades puree his neurons. Essentially, the movie's ending makes the events of the movie inconsequential. Yes, Donnie decides to save the Earth, but no one on Earth will ever know that they were in danger. In essence, Donnie Darko end with one of the oldest science fiction clichés: "And he woke up to find it was nothing but a bad dream."
