Top 30 Greatest Movies of All-Time # 28
Title: Donnie Darko
Actors/Director/Anything Worth Mentioning Right Away: Jake Gilligansisland is in this along with his sister, the voice of Lilo from Lilo and Stitch, Patrick Swayze, Drew Barrymore, the singer from Phantom Planet, Seth Rogen and far too many others. Oh yeah, Jena Malone too. It also directed by the awesome Richard Kelly.
Introduction: Honestly, I believe I saw this movie because I read about the cast on iMDB. It was something where I was looking up someone, let’s say Seth Rogen since I loved him from Freaks and Geeks, and then I clicked on Donnie Darko to see what it meant, saw the rest of the cast and was like, “I need to see this!” I don’t remember if it came on a premium channel or if I had to actually get it as a rental, but yeah, I watched it before it became a huge craze, but not too long before.
Location: All over a town, so they had a good budget but not necessarily a huge one.
Plot: So for whatever reason I “like” Pee Wee Herman on Facebook. At one point, Pee Wee posted a picture of himself with one Jake Gilligansisland, the star of this fine film. Someone- I kid you not- actually posted and said something like, “Hey Pee Wee, ask him what was up with Donnie Darko. That movie confused me!!” Okay, first off… If you’re going to ask the ACTOR what the movie means, you’re probably too dumb to understand it even if he did explain it to you. Why not ask Richard Kelly, the writer/director? He could probably explain it better. Nonetheless, here stands Donnie Darko explained. Ready? All right.
The movie starts when a satellite falls from space and is supposed to kill the title character but does not. All the while, in the background of this movie, Donnie himself is learning about time travel. Then, as the bunny said would happen, Donnie’s girlfriend is dead when she gets hit by a car near the end. So what does Donnie Darko do? He uses his newfound powers of time travel to go back in time and stay in bed, thus having the satellite crush and kill him instead. This means that Donnie never meets the girl, and then she never has to die by getting hit by a car. See? Donnie goes back in time and sacrifices himself to save Jena Malone’s life. The whole thing is really just a matter of “If I could just go back in time and let that satellite kill me none of this would have ever happened!! … Wait, I can!”
Acting: Good for who is in it.
Production: Umm, yeah, if you’re going to have a ridiculous name like Gilligansisland and keep it when going into show business, I’m going to make fun of it. I refuse to take the time to learn how to spell or pronounce it. You want to be famous? Change your name to Jake Gilly or something equally as easy to remember/pronounce.
Sex/Nudity: I’m going to have to say no, but that’s not why this movie isn’t for kids.
Special Effects: I know this has become kind of a cult movie for Hot Topic kids now, but I really did like it first. So, suck it, nerds!!
Overall Verdict: I like all of Richard Kelly’s movies and I really see this more as a gateway movie that got me into The Box and Southland Tales more than the actual movie itself being high on my list (Though don’t get me wrong, I still like the movie) It’s also, obviously, one of those movies you need to watch several times to fully understand, but that’s just another thing that I like about it.
The List Thus Far:
(28) Donnie Darko
(29) Demolition Man
(30) Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
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