Donnie Darko

Donnie DarkoWe watched Donnie Darko again the other night. I had seen the movie about a year ago (a library rental) and had a hard time grasping the concepts and plotlines of the film. This time, it seemed to make more since.
The story is somewhat like Back to the Future, although there are no DeLoreans, mad professors, Calvin Kleins in this tale. The plot is centered around the life of a teenage boy named Donnie Darko (a name, not so accidentally, reminiscent of a super hero). He lives in the typical nuclear family. His mom is authoritive and his father throws discipline to the wind. They've put Donnie in pyschotherapy and on medication to cure him of his problems, however, his problems take on a life of their own. He begins to be visited at night by a strange guy in a macabre bunny suit, looking something akin to Bugs from Hell. The Bunny, Frank, leads Donnie off one night, leaving him asleep on a golf course. Donnie returns home the next morning to find a stray jet engine had demolished part of his house, more specifically, his room. By some strange twist of fate, or maybe the hand of the unknown, he had avoided death.

Okay, so this is where the story gets weird... although some people may think that following a six-foot tall bunny around in the middle of the night is pretty strange as it is. Frank gives Donnie a prophecy of sorts. He's told that the world will end in 28 days (Frank actually breaks it down into minutes and seconds). Somehow, a tangent universe was created when the jet engine landed in the Darko House. The Government couldn't figure out where it came from as there was no record of any jets losing engines... so our Donnie becomes the chosen one, much like Neo from the Matrix. His job, his purpose, is to save the world from utter destruction by somehow closing the tangent universe putting the world back into it's normal timeline. Frank, along with others around him, become unconcious guides to help him complete his mission. A mission that very well may spell the end of Donnie's existance.


*spoilers ahead.... red alert!*

There are a few things that make the story confusing. When is Donnie in the real world and when is he in the tangent universe... or has the tangent universe become reality at the point of the engine (or artifact) appearing? Does the real world reappear during the span of time between the halloween party and the whole cellar door incident with Frank and the bullies? Who is the short mexican chick and why is she in the movie? Is Smurfette really a who-ah?

Anyhoo... I'll have to ponder these thoughts...

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Universal Healthcare or Corporate Welfare?

Right Wing Cheerleader of the Week Award

How to Cheat, Lie, and Steal and Blame it on Your Opponent - For Dummies