Sometime between getting a first apartment and following the rhythms of full-time jobs, I forgot about Donne Darko. It dazzled and enthralled me on both emotional and entertaining levels in college, but admittedly, when I finally rediscovered it last October, I had grown out of it. It's annoyingly dramatic, kind of forced, and overly confusing. Perhaps I was tainted by having seen Southland Tales (Don't do it!), but I just wasn't feeling Donnie Darko last year.
Though, as part of my "Fear of FIlms" vision, I felt that I couldn't not include Donnie Darko. I made a pumpkin pie just for the occasion.
Set in 1988, though released in 2002, Donnie Darko is the title character in this film about "Fear and Love." We know immediately that Donnie is a very special teenage boy--he's first seen biking in his pajamas, barefoot, after waking up in what looks like the middle of nowhere. Arriving home to the family's marker board reading "Where's Donnie?" we see that he comes from the most terrifying place--suburban America, family of five. He's schizophrenic, has lame friends, and falls for the mysterious, weird new girl in school. And, his best friend is a six foot tall many in a bunny suit with a creepy face. Donnie has good teachers (one of whom is played by Drew Barrymore) and awful teachers (Health and Phys Ed teach Ms. Farmer), and he learns from and educates both. The school falls for an infommercial-type motivational speaker, Jim Cunningham (played by freaking Patrick Swayze!), who Donnie eventually exposes for what he really is. Gosh, there's even more stuff, like the thing with the girlfriend, the time travel, Grandma Death. There's way too much stuff in this movie, and I kind of mean that in a bad way.
Upon watching it with less expectation, I still resolved to Donnie Darko being one of those endearing movies that you watch out of tradition.With lines like "Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion!" it's at least entertaining. The ensemble cast is acts well, each character with amusing and emotional nuances.
There's a lot of themes here, maybe too many. "Fear" comes to mind. While Donnie argues that there is more to life than "Fear and love," contrary to what his dimwitted Health teacher insists (preaching from the teachings of the smarmy Jim Cunningham). Donnie is correct, even though many of the characters are driven by fear (hardly love). So, of what are they all afraid? ...
SPOILER ALERT YE BEEN WARNED AHHRG!
Because Donnie is the only one who dies in the end, he opposes the binary short-sightedness of "Fear and Love," and expresses a seemingly resolved outlook toward death earlier in the film (that there might not be a "God" if "everyone dies alone"), then I would say that everyone else is afraid death. Despite their declarations of morality and wearing shirts that say things like "God is awesome!" they are totally afraid of dying because there might not be anything after that. Donnie is the hero ("What kind of a name is that? Sounds like some sort of super hero.") because he accepts the fear and takes the challenge.
It's fitting that this is the first in this series, since death is the ultimate fear.
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