DVDs in Review

Donnie Darko Blu-ray set (Richard Kelly, 2001)

Title: Donnie Darko / Donnie Darko Director's Cut (Richard Kelly, 2001)

Release date: July 19 2010

Certificate: 15

Format: Blu-ray

RRP: £24.99

Rating: 4/5

Reviewed by Dave Lancaster

‘Donnie Darko’ is a true genre crosser. It’s hard to get the film into any one category aside from perhaps mystery, but that’s more like a fitting description of what Richard Kelly’s film is trying to be. Straddling somewhere between a film noir, teenage angst high school drama, social satire, time travelling sci-fi and a paranoia thriller, ‘Donnie Darko’ certainly is original.

It’s also one of the most impressive film debuts ever by a writer/director (along with Dennis Hopper’s ‘Easy Rider’, Roman Polanski’s ‘Knife in the Water’ and the Orson Welles magnum opus ‘Citizen Kane’). Its central character is Donnie Darko (an edgy Jake Gyllenhaal) who survives an accident that sees a jet engine crash into his bedroom while he’s out sleepwalking.

Donnie has seen visions of a giant bunny rabbit named Frank who has told him that the world is ending within a month. Frank leads Donnie into criminal activity and cryptically teaches him about time travel, while his therapist (Katharine Ross of ‘Butch and Sundance’ fame) ups his medication and he falls for a girl at school (Jena Malone).

Also in the mix is a local motivational speaker (a fantastic Patrick Swayze) houses a dark secret, a deranged old woman known as Grandma Death and the ongoing strains of his family life (played by a great cast including Mary McDonnell and Jake Gyllenhaal’s own real-life sister Maggie).

The cast and the eclectic selection of characters aid ‘Donnie Darko’ immensely, giving the audience something to latch onto while the plot goes off on one tangent after another. This is a film that could’ve so easily have been just a mess, but it pulls itself together with its hole filled by ambiguity that makes for an intriguing watch.

The director’s cut (included in the Blu-ray set) fills in too many of these gaps by adding literal explanations, hindering the film’s successful mystery, making ‘Donnie Darko’ one of the few films to actually be tainted by the ever-interesting and revealing director’s cut treatment.  There’s just too much in it and it outstays its welcome.

The original cut, however, is fantastic if you don’t mind your films being a little abstract and lacking a common through-line. It’s the kind of cinema that you can return to and look for clues, and, conversely, the type of film where you can just acknowledge that it’s well made but ultimately pointless. Whatever your stance, ‘Donnie Darko’ at least deserves a look in (if only for Gary Jules’ invigorated cover of ‘Mad World’ on the soundtrack), and this Blu-ray is a great place to start unravelling the web.