IMDb > Donnie Darko (2001)
Donnie Darko
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Donnie Darko (2001) More at IMDbPro »

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Donnie Darko (2001) -- Director's Cut
Donnie Darko (2001) -- A troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes, after narrowly escaping a bizarre accident.
Donnie Darko (2001) -- ZuGuide.com - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
MOVIEmeter: ?

Up 19% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

Richard Kelly

Writer:

Richard Kelly (written by)

Contact:

View company contact information for Donnie Darko on IMDbPro.

Release Date:

30 January 2002 (France) more

Tagline:

Life is one long insane trip. Some people just have better directions. more

Plot:

A troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes, after narrowly escaping a bizarre accident. full summary | full synopsis

Plot Keywords:

more

Awards:

11 wins & 10 nominations more

NewsDesk:
(468 articles)

Aff Review: Herpes Boy
 (From Slackerwood. 11 November 2009, 6:00 PM, PST)

Jake Gyllenhaal "Prepared" for a Prince of Persia Sequel
 (From ReelzChannel. 11 November 2009, 3:44 AM, PST)

User Comments:

the dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had more (1918 total)


Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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Additional Details

Also Known As:

Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut (USA) (director's cut)
Donnie Darko (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Донни Дарко (Russia) [ru]
Donnie Darko (Brazil) [pt]
Donnie Darko (Spain) [es]
Donnie Darko (Greece) (DVD title) [el]
Donnie Darko - Fürchte die Dunkelheit (Germany) [de]
Donnie Darko - Karanlik yolculuk (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
more

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some drug use and violence.; Rated R for language, some underage drug and alcohol use, and violence. (director's cut)

Runtime:

113 min | 133 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1 more

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Company:

Pandora Cinema more


Fun Stuff

Trivia:

The main bully is named Seth Devlin, which sounds like devil. A sticker inside his locker reads: "What would Satan do?" more

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: When the students all write "They made me do it" on the board, Sam Bylen is followed by Donnie Darko. Cherita Chen wrote between those two, but the original cut skips her moment. It is restored in the director's cut. more

Quotes:

[first lines]
Elizabeth: I'm voting for Dukakis.
more

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 'Donnie Darko': Production Diary (2004) (V) more

Soundtrack:

Never Tear Us Apart more


FAQ

What is the song played during the cinema sequence, and at the beginning of the credits?
Why does Dr. Thurman react the way she does to Donnie's comment about the sky opening up?
Why is Donnie smiling at the beginning of the film, when he wakes up?
more
257 out of 335 people found the following comment useful.
the dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had, 23 May 2002
Author: lwjoslin (lwjoslin@msn.com) from Huston, TX, CSA

"Harvey" meets "The Mothman Prophecies," as a troubled teen starts hallucinating a horrific 6-foot-tall bunny rabbit that brings him dark forebodings about death and disaster in the very near future. A streak of "Heathers" is mixed in as well, with trenchant satirical observations of high-school life in the late '80s (story set in Oct. 1988), involving a priggish teacher, a self-help guru (Patrick Swayze!), and a put-upon fat girl at the fringes of the herd. Finally, a whiff of "Back to the Future," in the form of a local eccentric who just may have discovered the secret of time travel, but a secret that has more to do with spirituality than technology.

A lot goes on here. There's a meditation on the possible overlap between madness and the ability to perceive the divine. There's a demonstration of why, in the Bible, angelic messengers (if that's what "Frank" can be taken to be) are often so terrifying that they have to start by saying "Fear not." There's an enlistment of what martial artists refer to as the "ki" (or personal energy, emanating from a person's midsection) in the type of time travel depicted here (the term "ki" is never used in the flick, but the term "path," another word for Tao or "Way," is). Quantum physics theory about wormholes is tied to the Fortean phenomenon of things falling unexplained from the sky, in a way that's more pivotal, and therefore more interesting, than the gratuitous rain of frogs in "Magnolia."

Time travel paradoxes and ironies enter the picture as well. One character (no spoiler!), whose life is saved by Donnie's ultimate trip back in time, wouldn't have died in the first place if he hadn't dragged her along to the opening of the wormhole. Another character (again, no spoiler!), whose truly terrible secret comes to light in the wake of an arson investigation, must go unexposed as a result of that same time reversal, since the arson now won't happen. Surely that's no oversight on the part of the screenwriter; it must be an acknowledgment of the choices and trade-offs in life, as well as of a confidence that no such terrible secret can remain hidden forever.

Somehow this pastiche works, largely on the strength of good performances. Jake Gyllenhaal is appropriately moody and, also appropriately, not always likeable in the title role. Drew Barrymore, who executive produced, appears as a frustrated first-year teacher. The movie's often dreamlike atmosphere is enhanced by the cinematography, the subdued but effective special effects, and the choice of the music on the soundtrack, which includes '80's pop tunes, of course, and a haunting original song (over the end credits) titled "Mad World."

Not for all tastes, but better, stranger, and more complex than I expected.

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