So... You can see where Donnie Darko sits on my list of favourite movies. Right at the top. The first time watching Donnie Darko was kind of amazing. I�ve watched it many times since then. I've been wanting Richard Kelly to do something -anything- new. So watching this new version� it didn�t blow me away.
The Director�s Cut feels longer. A lot of the ambiguity that helped the original work so well is gone with the addition of pages from The Philosophy of Time Travel actually being presented on screen. The way the final montage has been so drastically changed was strange, and I�m not sure if I dig it or not. As mentioned later, some music is changed. Not all of the deleted scenes from the DVD make the final cut, but a lot of what does is very good. The standout is probably Eddie�s final talk with Donnie. It doesn�t really serve the story, but it�s just a really good scene.
That said, it�s the DONNIE DARKO Director�s Cut- it would be really, really difficult to make this movie not work for me. For whatever has been added to it, it still has a great movie at its core.
The story, for those unfamiliar, is of a troubled teenage boy named Donnie Darko (played by Jake Gyllenhaal), living in a small but affluent town in 1988. Donnie is seeing a psychologist, and often sleepwalks. One night, he is called out of his bedroom in a dreamlike state by a �six foot tall bunny rabbit� (really a man in a bunny suit with a creepy, creepy metallic mask), who tells him that the world will end in twenty eight days. As Donnie is talking to the rabbit, a jet engine falls on his house, right into his bedroom- so the rabbit effectively saves his life.
That�s just the beginning- in case you can�t tell it�s a time travel movie. To go into detail for the uninitiated would be wrong, so I�ll leave it at that. This movie has been compared to Mullholland Drive, in that once you get to the end you are left with a puzzle of a movie. That said, I REALLY didn�t dig Mullholland Drive. I mention the Mullholland Drive comparison, because Donnie Darko is so much more than just a well acted mindfuck.
The music is great. As well as having a score that moves between quiet and creepy and more-up tempo and intriguing, there�s also some great �80s music in here- some of which was changed for the director�s cut; Echo and the Bunnymen�s �The Killing Moon� is now INXS�s �Never Tear us Apart�- both work well. Other than that, there�s some Tears for Fears, Joy Division, and most importantly, Duran Duran. And, of course, Gary Jules� cover of Tears for Fears� �Mad World� is sad and brilliant.
Technically, the movie is very good for its low budget. It�s not a particularly colourful movie, but everything still looks pretty. The CG is pretty fake, but still works well.
And what probably makes the movie is its characters. Donnie is surrounded by some pretty awesome supporting characters, as well as being pretty awesome himself. The loving but bickering family members are both real and funny, Jena Malone�s Gretchen, Donnie�s love interest, is adorable and vulnerable (and they have pretty good chemistry), and Kitty Farmer, the crazy Christian health teacher/dance instructor, steals every scene she�s in. Drew Barrymore and even Patrick Swayze, as a sleazy New Age Guru, also come up well. As well as all the characters being if not entertaining if not lovable (Patrick Swayze definitely doesn't apply to the latter, mind you), they all serve a purpose at the end.
That�s what�s so cool about Donnie Darko. There are a lot of little moments and character bits which all work on their own, but don�t seem to really mean anything overall. And then, minutes from the end, everything just seems to come together. It�s confusing and takes a few viewings, but it�s worth it.
So, was the director�s cut necessary? I think we�d still be fine without it. But it�s still Donnie Darko, so it�s still�
