Richard Kelly's quirky "Donnie Darko" was an audience-pleaser at Sundance then a bomb at the box office in 2001 before becoming a cult hit on DVD. It isn't clear what kind of film it's trying to be, which is part of the problem and part of the attraction. Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a high school student whose life is disrupted by sleepwalking and hallucinations of someone named Frank wearing a grotesque bunny suit. On October 2, 1988, the bunny tells Donnie that the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, 6 seconds. That would be on Halloween. It's assumed that Donnie is mentally ill. He doesn't know himself. Between the bunny's commands and other bizarre incidents, Donnie begins to think it all has something to do with time travel, which will come to an abrupt end on October 31.



Donnie is a thoughtful young man with a problem of unclear dimensions. He's trying his best to figure it all out, so the audience roots for him. Richard Kelly places "Donnie Darko" in the science fiction genre. But it's also satire, family dramedy, teen romance, and a period film of the 1980s. This works, because different themes are compartmentalized, and when they intersect, they do so naturally. The satire involving a gym teacher (Beth Grant) who idolizes a puritanical motivational speaker (Patrick Swayze) is over-the-top. The family dynamic is sincere and good-natured. Mary McDonnell is particularly touching as Donnie's mother, who feels her son's pain and reacts with respect and kindness. But there is a nagging feeling that things in Middlesex, Virginia are somehow out of whack.



The DVD (20th Century Fox 2003): On the standard disc, NOT the director's cut, the bonus features are a theatrical trailer and 5 TV spots, selected filmographies of 11 cast and 9 crew members, 20 deleted or extended scenes with optional commentary, "Mad World" music video performed by Gary Jules (3 min), a web site gallery that features documents that fill out the past and future of some characters, liner notes for the soundtrack, "Cunning Visions" infomercials (6 min) with optional commentary by the company's fictional CEO and director, Cunningham's full "His Name is Frank" presentation, Cunningham's book covers, an Art Gallery with nearly 50 production stills and 27 pieces of concept art from the film, and 12 pages of "The Philosophy of Time Travel" by Roberta Sparrow.



There are also 2 audio commentaries. The first is by writer/director Richard Kelly and actor Jake Gyllenhaal. This includes their recollections of filming, discussion of themes and characters, Gyllenhaal's thoughts about Donnie, discussion of the film's mysteries, and what the director hoped to reveal as the film progressed. The second audio commentary is by 8 (I think) members of the cast and Richard Kelly. They are a friendly bunch, conversing with the director and each other about the film, commenting on the scenes. Kelly does offer some different ideas in this commentary than in the first, so it's not a repeat. Subtitles are available for the film in English SDH and Spanish. Dubbing available in French.