Donnie Darko

I don’t understand the movie at all, but it still makes me cry at the end.

CHUT UP!!

It's a singular film. I'm with r1, it's been some time since I watched it but was obsessed with it in the first few years after it came out and it always made me sob at the end. Like ugly cry. When Jena Malone waves at Mary McDonnell -- oy!

I also think this movie single-handedly invented the now-constant use of slow, sad covers of pop classics in movies with that Tears for Fears cover. At the time, though, it was supremely effective.

I didn’t understand what the hell was going on in that film! It had this weird rabbit in it!! It wasn’t as good as Something About Mary!

Apparently it did well in the uk.

It's a bizarre movie, and if you've ever listened to the commentary track on the DVD, you realize that Richard Kelly has no idea what the movie is actually about, and it's just some strange accident that the movie holds together as well as it does.

"Cellar Door"

Drew Barrymore had a role in the film and it was her production company that produced the film. Unfortunately, DD may have been a one hit wonder for the Director, Richard Kelly. He hasn’t been able to direct (or write) another successful or memorable film sine Donnie Darko.

I've loved this movie (the director's cut version) since I saw it. It is a lot more interesting when you Google the backstory and explanations of everything - there's a great deal of lore and a lot of intricacy to the whole affair that make it even more fun to view more than once.

Also, Jake Gyllenhaal is super sexy in this. The scene where he is under hypnosis and about to start touching himself is a turnon!

I use "Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion!" in real life way too often.

The whole backstory is cool. The book that is mentioned during the movie basically explains that every now and then, an error is made in creation, and the universe is duplicated right before the error occurs, somehow, as a self-protection mechanism.

One person in the new universe (in this case Donnie) is given the power to fix the problem (they gain power over water and metal), and he's given incentive to do so by means of what it calls an "ensurance trap" by putting the people he loves in mortal danger, so he uses his power to "fix" the error and thus the mirror universe is joined back up with the original (or something).

If he chooses NOT to fix the error, the mirror universe decays and collapses, and takes the primary universe with it, resulting in the end of all creation.

When Donnie, at the end, is sitting on the bluff looking into the sky, he is using his powers over metal to move the engine of the plane that has broken off the plane his mother and sister are in, through the hole connecting the two universes, back to the primary universe.

So in the primary universe, a plane engine seemingly appears out of nowhere, because the events of the rewind universe never happened except for that last point where the error is corrected.

At least that's how I remember it!

I think the original script explained a lot more of this, and then it all got cut out before the movie was shot. The director's edition restores some more footage that explains a few things but there is still a lot of the backstory that is never explained in the film, nor could you really figure it out on your own.

Ha! I used it as a magical realism film in my English class.

I just hoped they didn't see the vibrator on the bed at the end.

They thought I was crazy and they loved it!

Edward Scissorhands too.

Or, it's about mental illness being a verboten subject within a family, while one of the members decides to off himself.

Great explanation R11

Every decision (music, additional CGI, explaining what was far more interesting left unknown) Kelly made in director's cut contributing to ruining the poetic, almost mystical, quality of the original. Years after watching the film, I realized that Kelly had ripped off a Twlight Zone episode as his inspiration for Donnie Darko--I think it was called The Ring-a-Ding Girl or somesuch. I'd never seen the episode but at the end, it struck me that that's where he got the idea. I might not have made the connection if he hadn't expanded another TZ episode (based on a short story) into a feature, "The Box."

I still love the original. It's a beautiful film. The scene in which Mary McDonnell's character reassures Donnie that it feels great to have a "psycho for a son" was so moving, partly because of Michael Andrews's score, which along with the ORIGINAL soundtrack (with The Killing Moon), made the film so evocative. I think it helped that I was exactly the same age as Donnie in 1988.

[quote]So in the primary universe, a plane engine seemingly appears out of nowhere, because the events of the rewind universe never happened except for that last point where the error is corrected.

Wouldn't the crash still have happened, just not with his mother on the plane? Sparkle Motion still would have competed, regardless.

[quote]So in the primary universe, a plane engine seemingly appears out of nowhere, because the events of the rewind universe never happened except for that last point where the error is corrected.

Wouldn't the crash still have happened, just not with his mother on the plane? Sparkle Motion still would have competed, regardless.

I like this movie. But i never bothered with the sequel (which i'm sure is terrible). I think Richard Kelly also directed a movie called Southland Tales 🤔

R17 There wasn't a crash I don't think - Donnie himself ripped the engine off the plane with his power over metal and moved it through the rip in spacetime back to the primary universe. When the universe is restored, the movie starts back over at the beginning, when the engine falls to the earth on their house, the only remnant of the mirror universe, but one that was needed to fix the error. I don't know if a plane crash is still going to happen in the future or not. It's a paradox.

When Donnie wakes up he picks back up where he left off at the beginning of the movie, except with the knowledge he gained during the whole series of events in the mirror universe. I think at the lead up to the end - when he sets fire to the guy's house, when he shoots Frank in the eye - he knew what was going on, he knew none of it was "real" exactly. Will Sparkle Motion end up making the finals and will the plane be destroyed still? I don't think so, but I'm not sure.

So for one brief time Donnie was the most important person in the universe. I don't understand why he died at the end - either he didn't realize the engine would fall still, or he was still suicidal (although I don't think that was the case) or frankly after you are the most important person in the universe, there's not much else to do? I don't know.

Regarding the "manipulated living" which is what the people around Donnie are called - I think Donnie is the only person in the mirror universe with free will, and the others are basically pawns used by the universe to lock Donnie into making the decision he does. That's why at the end, they all wake up and remember what happened, like the most vivid dream you can imagine, but it never actually happened. They weren't acting "normally", because they were being manipulated. They remember all the horrible/unusual things they did and said though.

I think the directors edition is good, it doesn't explain too much because there's still so much going on that you are never told about or shown. Reminds me of that series on Showtime or HBO called Carnivale - it was great, but soooo much was happening that you never knew or understood, in the background of the series, about avatars of the light and the dark coming together for a final battle, etc. I only learned about it when I found the script writer's worldbuilding notes that he had posted when the series ended after season two (it was supposed to go for five seasons)? That series would have been amazing if the director hadn't made the first season all about worldbuilding rather than moving the plot forward.

This post convinced me to watch it again tonight. I still didn’t understand it, but Jake looked hot and Noah Wyle was also very handsome in it. Mary McDonnell and Patrick Swayze were both good - as was Jake - but Beth Grant stole the movie.

Apparently Kelly had nothing to do with the sequel, S. Darko?

Beth Grant is the unsung MVP of the film.

R22 that's the case of most of her projects.

What's the DL Dirt on Richard Kelly?

I knew I would love it the second the strains of The Killing Moon kicks in as Donnie is riding back home. I haven't seen the movie in about 20 years though because I find Jake's face so punchable now.

I agree that Mary McDonnell was great in this. The scene where Donnie's therapist, played by Katherine Ross, tells her and the husband that their son is mentally unstable is just beautifully played by her. You can see the realization come over her face in small degrees, that this is very serious and she goes from being sarcastic and droll to trying to keep herself together.

[Quote] Apparently Kelly had nothing to do with the sequel, S. Darko?

Can you blame him? A sequel wasn't necessary.

I love it. But the theatrical cut. The director's cut is terrible. Unfortunately, the directors subsequent movies were pretty bad. He was a hot looking guy, and just did too much coke.

[Quote] He was a hot looking guy, and just did too much coke.

My kind of guy.

The sequel was an attempted cash-in by the producers, who held the rights.

The movie was released just days before 9/11 which is why it got lost at the box office. But it quickly became a cult classic and is in many nerds' top 10.

Why are you wearing that stupid human suit?

DD is as ponderous as all get-out and that's why I love it. It's so well done that you get drawn into the whole story line, and then at the end you find out it never really happened, and you believe that, too. Or you don't believe it, and that's when the pondering kicks in. I saw it on a whim at the Two Boots Cinema in the East Village, and with that ending, when the lights came up, everyone just sat there like"wtf?" as they tried to make sense of what they'd just experienced. Its a fun ride.

It's too bad about the director, who was hailed as the next Stanley Kubrick in some circles. The Box was ok, but Southland Tales? I left before it was over. When the screen is broken up into four sections on a grid so you're always watching four things at once, my brain just couldn't process it all.

The same thing happened to Glitter r29

What the fuck up with Drew Barrymore’s teacher character telling the new girl to sit next to the cutest boy in the room, then making the other girl move seats? Her character was kind of annoying.

I like the part where Donnie asks the male professor about something and the professor stops and tells him he can't answer the question because it gets into matters of religion.

Like all alternate reality time travel parallel time films it makes zero sense.

it's an Easter tradition.

I'm voting for Dukakis.

Suck a fuck!

No, r32. Glitter was just bad.

Another vote for Beth Grant and Sparkle Motion.

Maggie was droll in this.

I still think the alternate timeline was simply a symptom of his mental illness.

He thought he was the actual center of the universe, which hinged on his choices and ultimately, his choice needed to be self-sacrifice to save everyone he knew.

I do love this movie and think the soundtrack and the opening scene has a lot to do with it. I have tried to understand what it going in but can’t. I just look at it as about a young man who knows he will die in a freak accident and is trying to process that and escape his fate but finally accepts it as he can’t change anything. Any change in the time continuum would have unknown effects so he accepts his fate. Fate Up Against the Wind. It is recurring Sci Fi plot? Oh heck, just watch, listen and enjoy it. It is probably meaningless.

/sorry, Fate Up Against Your Will is the song title. Makes more sense, really than my error anyway.

There is something magical about this movie that is hard to describe. I don't know that I'd call it under-appreciated—it has a large cult following and is well-regarded. I saw it for the first time as a teenager in the mid-2000s and it's always remained a favorite, though it's not a film that I find myself rewatching often. I have the old DVD and should really upgrade (I think Arrow Video released it in 4K UHD recently). The soundtrack is just fantastic, and the use of some of those '80s new wave/post-punk tracks is impeccable. The opening with "The Killing Moon" is fantastic (this also happens to be one of my favorite songs of all time). I also absolutely love the "Head Over Heels" montage at the school—it's just perfect.

I love this movie. I remember first watching it when I was in college and it first started playing in cable in 2002. It immediately became a cult hit and they started playing it in theaters again and I watched it there at least 3 times. I recommend watching the German Netflix show Dark if you enjoyed Donnie Darko.

The first time I saw it, I honestly felt like the movie was speaking directly to me. It freaked me out a little.

I had a bit of a breakdown in the fall of 1988 when I was a senior in high school. That time in my life had and has a surreal, disjointed quality not unlike the movie’s. The school scenes could have been filmed at my school. One of my best friends was named… Frank.

And our school had our very own Jim Cunningham.

Wow r47 what a coincidence

R47 - if you also look like Jake Gyllenhaal then please call me.

Not a fan. I was in middle school in the early 2000s and I remember this movie being very popular. I thought it was boring and depressing. Good soundtrack though.

[quote] Reminds me of that series on Showtime or HBO called Carnivale - it was great, but soooo much was happening that you never knew or understood, in the background of the series, about avatars of the light and the dark coming together for a final battle, etc. I only learned about it when I found the script writer's worldbuilding notes that he had posted when the series ended after season two (it was supposed to go for five seasons)? That series would have been amazing if the director hadn't made the first season all about worldbuilding rather than moving the plot forward.

Respectfully disagree.

Being the biggest fan of CARNIVÀLE, I have to say that I like how slow and deep it ran, even if it did make for an untimely end and cancellation. The steady unfurling, the drops of development and lore, and the trudge through the world all added to the overwhelming sense of bleak oppressive emptiness befitting the Dust Bowl. The pace and the tactiturn nature of the work reflected the matter of the tale, and followed the banal nature of life itself (going by so quick, but in the moment seeming slow and hard to understand comprehensively).

This movie fascinated me. I remember they had a website with clues on how to understand the movie. I even purchased the sound track because of the song below. The movie just spoke to me on a bunch of levels- maybe I am just an older teenager with angst.

R51 oh don't get me wrong, I loved the show too - I was echoing what the brass at HBO or Showtime (can't remember where it aired) said because it would likely have meant the show could have lasted longer than two seasons.

The reason the action picked up so much in season two was because the viewership numbers dropped off a lot through the first season - they think because of the glacial pace and world building - and didn't pick back up. The series was expensive to make and the numbers weren't worth it to them. So after season two failed to reattract viewers, they canned it with that incredibly obnoxious cliffhanger (which is why I went Googling to find out more about the story).

I looooved the opening credits, the set design, the tarot cards, Management, the paralyzed psychic, Adrienne Barbeau, etc. I even poured over the website experience for clues. So much mystery, Clea Duvall was great as the TRUE dark avatar (I think) and I very much had a crush on Nick Stahl too. I wish he'd done more and hadn't gotten pulled into drugs etc.

Here's an interesting article on how Donnie Darko captures the spirit of Lent

R50 everyone should have done less talking and more seeing the movie in theaters! It only made like $7.5 million box office on a $4.5 million budget.

Reminds me of poor Elvira's Mistress of the Dark movie - her movie got made, was awesome, and then the company went out of business right before (I think) it was released which affected the advertising and all sorts of other stuff that ended up making it a box office flop.

Noah Wyle was so cute in this movie. I would’ve had a major crush on him if he was my teacher.