March 1, 2003
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Many people have told me, over the last few years, that I should see a movie called Donnie Darko. They’d say, “You’d like it,” and leave it at that, even if pressed for reasons.
And, lo, last night, I watched it, and was impressed. Not at all the ghost story everyone had made it out to be.
What I like most about it is that it was made for no money, with no expectation of big box office returns. Free of those kinds of concerns, the filmmakers could cut back on formula and spelling-it-out scenes, and maximize the ambiguity and confusion of being a teenager.
Plotwise: A young psychotic man is saved from death by one of his hallucinations: An evil-looking bunny-suit of a creature named Frank, who says the world will end in 28 days. Thereafter, the kid ends up doing the bidding of the ultra-creepy Frank, who might just be a messenger from another dimension.
It’s Philip K. Dick meets Stephen King, high on the creep factor, and low on explanations at the end, even though key clues from the movie are replayed while the ending unfolds. It touches on issues of predestination, free will, the existence of God, the confusion of being a teenager in America, shortcomings in education, the fallacies of self-help, and the treatment (both senses) of the mentally-ill.
Very rich, very thoughtful and thought-provoking. Wonderfully acted. Artful. And has big evil bunnies in it.
Comments (3)
i really enjoyed it too. very different. well done. i liked it. the bunny.. a true bonus!
I loved that movie from the start, and two months before it came out I had a very vivid dream about Frank – I might have seen a poster or something – but found myself a little freaked when I *did* finally see the film that Donnie had vivid dreams about Frank, too. I’m pretty sure I didn’t know anything about the movie when I had *my* dream.
These days, when I think about the film, I think about the time I played Dr. Chumley in my high school’s production of Harvey. In some way, chunks of my life presaged that movie pretty well. And *bonus*… Tears For Fears was actually current at the time I did the play.
oooh, psychotic bunnies?
guess i haveta’ see this one after all….
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