A savior’s rebirth, the transformation of a fallen world, and anthropomorphic rabbits. No, I’m not talking about Easter. I’m talking about Donnie Darko: The Director’s Cut. Between Alice’s White Rabbit, Elwood’s Harvey, and now Donnie’s Frank, one wonders how many giant lepines are out dispensing convoluted wisdom to lost souls.
The story begins approximately thusly: Just before midnight, a high school boy named Donnie is awakened by a voice which compells him to venture outside. In a somnambulist’s trance, he follows the directive to a golf course where he encounters Frank, a bizarre, six-foot-tall bunny rabbit with a hideous grin. Frank gives Donnie some dire news. “Twenty eight days, six hours, forty two minutes, and twelve seconds… that is when the world will end.”
At the same moment, Donnie’s sister returns home from a date with her boyfriend. As she stands in the foyer, a giant crash shakes the house. Plaster falls from the ceiling, and the sleeping family is jarred awake.
In the morning, Donnie stumbles back to his home to find emergency equipment and squad cars surrounding his house. An enormous crane is seen lifting a jet engine through a hole in the roof. If Donnie had been in bed, the engine that demolished his bedroom would have killed him.
Donnie’s sister tells him an odd bit of news—nobody knows where the jet engine came from.
The film itself is strangely addictive. Since purchasing the DVD less than two weeks ago, I’ve already viewed it six times. The actors are top-notch—Jake Gyllenhaal stars as the troubled Donnie Darko. Also appearing are Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, Mary McDonnell, Holmes Osborne, Katharine Ross, Noah Wyle, and Patrick Swayze as a cheezy infomercial guru. The soundtrack contains the very best songs from the eighties—INXS, Tears for Fears, Joy Division, and of course, Echo and the Bunnymen.
I recommend this strange trip through the tangent universe. And if you rent it, give yourself plenty of time. You’ll want to watch it again and again to unlock the bizarre secrets of Donnie Darko: The Directors Cut
Posted by Ned at mars 26, 2005 12:19 PM