#5 Donnie Darko

For any angsty teenager, Donnie Darko is an idol. He's a loner, a freak and he has to be on medication because everyone says his crazy. But he knows that he's special. He knows that he is meant for great things.

One night his beliefs begin to come true. In one of his many sleepwalks, Donnie(in a breakout role by Jake Gyllenhaal) steps outside to see a man dressed in a freaky bunny suit. The man in the bunny suit identifies himself as Frank and informs him that the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds, which is on Halloween. Then, before he goes back into his house, a jet engine crashes into Donnie's room.

From this point forth, things get weirder. Donnie comes across characters such as Grandma Death and his teachers who both seem to hint at him that they can sense that something important is going on. Jena Malone, a crush-worthy teen idol in early 2000's indie films(such as The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys and Saved!), plays Gretchen, Donnie's love interest . And she must also have a feeling that he's special, because the first time that they talk she says that his name sounds like a superhero.

And Donnie begins to believe it. Frank visits Donnie more and more as Donnie, as well as the viewer, begin to question what is real and what is a dream. Donnie can't figure out who Frank really is and when he asks him "Why are you wearing that stupid bunny suit?", Frank retorts "Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?"

But this doesn't matter to Donnie Darko. Frank makes Donnie feel invincible as he takes on everyone that he hates in this world. This is where the teenage fantasy comes in. The inspirational speaker who tells everyone how to live their lives? He gets exposed as a fraud and a creep(played wonderfully by the late Patrick Swayze). The self-righteous teacher who does an awful job acting like a sweetheart when she's really a crazy bitch? Donnie develops the courage to speak up and show the class her bullshit. It's very hard to not identify with this movie if you're a modern, unpopular teenager.

But it's not modern. It actually takes place in 1988 and there's no aspect of this movie that captures that period better than the soundtrack. Donnie's younger sister dances to "Notorious" by Duran Duran. And according to the Wikipedia page which constitutes most of my research for these posts, there is also music from Pantera and Joy Division. But the most famous song to come out of this movie is the Gary Jules cover of Tears for Fears "Mad World". Jules specifically recorded his version for Donnie Darko , which suddenly became a big hit a few years ago.

Anyway, Donnie gets more absorbed into Frank's demands as it gets closer to the point when the world will supposedly end. Donnie begins to look into time-travel as a way to reverse the impending apocalypse. Time travel is very hard to pull off in a story for two main reasons. First of all, more so than any other science fiction theme, time travel is maybe the most improbable thing to happen in the real world and the one most subject to paradoxes. Secondly, it's been done so many times, in so many great movies and TV shows and books, that to use time-travel in an original way is not easy. But Donnie Darko pulls it off. And in the way the story ends up, things find a way to make sense.

Well, not exactly. There are many ways to interpret this movie, most of which involve spoilers. But without giving any away, there are still many things to consider. We do know that Donnie is crazy, but how much of this is in his head? If Frank is real, than what is his objective? What do the other characters, such as Donnie's therapists and teachers know?

I enjoy movies that make me think, but not movies that make me feel stupid. You shouldn't have to watch a movie multiple times to have a clue about what's going on, like in Primer, which is another time-travel movie from this decade. But it's definitely nice to see a movie a second or third time and pick up on things that you didn't notice in the first go-around. You don't necessarily feel lost after the first time you watch Donnie Darko, but if you feel compelled to see it again you might interpret the entire movie in a different way. I believe it was after my fourth watching of this movie(and after seeing the Director's Cut), that I felt that I understood everything that needed to be understood.

But maybe movies aren't supposed to be like that. Maybe they're supposed to be like paintings. Sure, the artist may have had some message that he/she wanted to get across, but it doesn't matter. Art should be for the public and not the artist, and Donnie Darko is a great example of that democratic ideal. Maybe Frank's comment about Donnie being in a stupid man suit is a statement that Donnie's life is a facade for his true self. Maybe it means absolutely nothing at all.

But who cares? Either way, it's a great line.