There’s a lot in this movie and I have a lot to say about it, so I’ll start by saying my favorite thing about this movie is all the banger one-liners come from Kitty Farmer.
Much like The Blair Witch Project, I’m proud to say I was a part of the craze over Donnie Darko in the early 2000’s. I even visited the website that was supposed to give you more info about what it all really meant - I still don’t know, but by the end of this blog, I explain a theory and then dismantle it.
What was it about Donnie Darko that gave it such staying power? It wasn’t the first mind-fuck movie, yet that’s how it felt. Maybe it was the soundtrack. I can’t be the only one with a Pavlovian response when “Killing Moon” comes on at the grocery store and I feel the disoriented sideways shot of the school bus. Let’s be honest, though, Gary Jules cover of “Mad World” was the soundtrack to so many existential life crisis after this movie.
This movie is so self aware. It’s set in 1988, feels like 1988, but is so aware that the year is 1988 that everything reaches the top without going over. The small details are what push it to peak 1988, like Mom reading It, the girls going on Star Search, and Drew Barrymore’s shoulder pads.
Nothing stood out as a shining star in wardrobe, which is okay because this movie isn’t about the clothing. Though, I do appreciate the choices to dress everyone in very regular people clothing. Donnie really is a regular kid with issues. He wears regular teenager clothing with no personality or identifying features. Maggie, however, is the older sister with style. You know she’s cool with her earrings, plaid pants, and leather jacket. I would absolutely be friends with her friend.
The Halloween costumes in this movie are dope. Hulk Hogan (thank you clearance department) and the viking are great in a crowd of grass skirts and Pharaoh & Cleopatra.
But it’s Donnie’s skeleton costume under the hoodie that takes home best costume.
Runners up are Frank & his friend dressed as a clown. Tell me you wouldn’t shit yourself just a little seeing this duo getting out of a car.
A few random takeaways - Holmes Osborne is such a dad in this movie, it’s great; Grandma Death is probably my future; and the emphasis on words - cellar door - makes me feel like this script could have used a few more passes to really tighten it up. Even names were deliberate - Donnie Darko, Roberta Sparrow, Gretchen Ross.
Every time I watch this movie, I try to figure it out. This time I think I figured it out due to one small detail.
Early on, the morning after the jet engine lands in the house and Donnie arrives to his neighborhood to find all the commotion, the cop at the barricade just lets Donnie walk through after a Willy Wonka struggle to stop him. We vaguely hear the cop say to the onlookers, “He’s fine.” as this barefoot teenager in pajamas telling him “this is my house” is enough credential to walk unescorted through an active scene.
This makes me think the whole movie was in his head and we actually watched them go through the month of September. But writing this all down now, I feel like I’m wrong and this movie really is just a mindfuck about time travel.
To quote my favorite line from the movie, “tell them, everything’s going to be okay.”
