The title protagonist, Donnie Darko is a troubled high schooler living in an affluent Virginia suburb during the fall of 1988.  Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a brilliant kid, but he's deeply disturbed: he has blackouts from which he awakes without any idea of where he's been, and is periodically visited by a giant rabbit named Frank, which informs him that the world is going to end in twenty-eight days.  This demonic rabbit also gets Donnie to do some very bad things!

      Not surprising, Donnie is seeing a shrink and going thru life heavily medicated.  At the same time, he becomes friendly with a new girl at school, starts to do some bad and weird things... and to make matters worse, an airplane engine crashes into his house and into his room, but Donnie is safe because he has been outside sleepwalking.

      So much goes on in this film that I won't add anymore plot summary.  But suffice to say, many questions arise.   Is Donnie really disturbed, is the rabbit a demon from hell, an alien, or a figment of Donnie's imagination?  What is causing Donnie to do bad things like burning down houses?   The movie has a terrific twist ending that will leave you sitting in your seat, fascinated with what you have just seen.

      The wide-screen lensing of this film is simply gorgeous, capturing scenes so carefully gauged and realized that they're sometimes breathtaking.  The choice of music is also perfect, capturing the period feel.  And he obtains exceptional performances from most of his cast.  The only minor criticism I have is that the film is about 15 minutes too long... a little tighter editing would have resulted in a better flowing movie.

      This is one of the better movies of the year as well as one of the most original movies made recently.   And coming out near Halloween is perfect timing for this strange, brilliant, dark film.

     -- Mike ( 3 1/2 out of 4 pops )

Talk about this film with other Popkorn Junkies

      Patsy ( 3 1/2 out of 4 pops )

      Wow.  What a weird movie.  I totally loved it.  I wasn't exactly sure what the movie was about before I watched it and I'm still not sure now that I've seen it.  I actually think it was really sad.  I mean, Donnie is an extremely intelligent guy, but because he has these visions he basically cuts himself off from his family and becomes a menace at school.  He is very depressed and the medication he needs to take doesn't help him feel much better.  I just thought it was sad.  But don't get me wrong, the entire movie isn't sad-- it's really spooky and funny and weird-- I just came away from it with an overall sad feeling.  If you haven't seen this film yet you must rent it!

      Billy Ray ( 4 out of 4 pops )

      One of the most unusual films I have seen in a long time, "Donnie Darko" is as original as it gets and it thoroughly enjoyable throughout, all the way up to an ending I certainly didn't expect, which left me feeling rather sad for the primary character.  Jake Gyllenhaal is marvelous as the troubled Donnie (I saw him on a London stage in "This Is Our Youth" and it was fabulous), and Patrick Swayze is fall-down hilarious as the motivational speaker/child porn king.  What I really liked is how big stars like Swayze, Noah Wyle, Drew Barrymore, and Mary McDonnell took keyed down roles--roles that were small, but enormously critical to the plot of the film.  Everything just flowed together nicely and the rabbit was scary enough to give little kids nightmares.  In fact, the entire film had this nice dream quality about it, coupled with a storyline that--in the beginning--seemed difficult to follow, but--by the end--was all laid out in black and white.  This is a genuine, one of a kind film and is certainly worth everyone's time.