Donnie Darko

Year: 2001
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, Mary McDonnell, James Duval, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Holmes Osborne, Katharine Ross, Patrick Swayze, Noah Wyle, Arthur Taxier, Stuart Stone
Directed By: Richard Kelly

Stylish, exciting debut by writer/director Richard Kelly that, like "Mulholland Drive," leaves much unexplained as dark doings occur in an idyllic suburb, circa 1988. Aptly named Darko family is full of complex characters, including the gifted but schizophrenic Donny, a teenager able to see the future with the aid of a life-size, doomsday-spewing rabbit named Frank. Donny's psychiatrist (Ross) discovers he's sleepwalking on Frank's orders, which actually saves his life when a jet engine falls from a plane, landing squarely in the teen's bedroom. Even more mysteriously, no plane has reported a missing engine, which turns out to be just one of the many eerie events that may be real or imagined. McDonnel and Osborne are both fine as Donny's upper- middle class Republican parents. Like "Harvey" on anti-psychotic meds, this challenging and complex film is worth the effort.

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