Teenager Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) has avoided death in his own bedroom. In the process of doing so, he accidentally sets in motion a change of events that could very well bring about the end of the world, a deranged gigantic being in a bunny suit named Frank his apocalyptic guide through the twisted multifarious realities of space and time.

CRITIQUE

Donnie Darko is unlike little else I can honestly say I have ever seen. It’s one of those movies that has grown on me more and more over the years, and the further I get from it the more writer-director Richard Kelly’s (Southland Tales) serene, meditative science fiction epic floats back within my brain as one of the truly memorable films I’ve had the pleasure to see this decade.

That doe not mean I am an out-and-out fan. Quite the opposite, frankly, and there are times I think Kelly has received far too much praise for his out-there time travel spectacular than the movie itself actually deserves. Elements of it seem chaotic and unfocused just for the sake of being chaotic and unfocused, so much of the exposition pointless fodder for unimportant debate than they are required to propel the twisted, highly-fractured narrative forward.

Be that as it may, boy does this one cast an extremely bewitching spell difficult to turn away from. Even those who come down against this imaginative High School epic can’t say it isn’t different or unique, and for all his inability to strip things down to their brass tax certainly has a magnificent flair behind the camera that’s outright extraordinary.

Additionally, even amidst all the bewildering chaos he has an innate ability to grab performances from his actors that are just as good as the visuals surrounding them. So many times movies like this, ones relying upon sound and ocular stimulation, forget a little about the characters and let the cast fade into the background.

That’s certainly not the case here. Gyllenhaal, whose work in the sadly ignored minor coming-of-age masterpiece October Sky was just about perfect, digs so deeply into Donnie’s psyche I swear I know more about him because of his performance than I would have had I just read Kelly’s script. Talk about Brokeback Mountain and Zodiac and Jarhead as much as you want (and goodness knows I have, at least in regards to those first two) but after watching this again I’m hard-pressed to admit this might just be the actor’s best cinematic work. This is as multifaceted and interesting a piece of acting as any a person is ever likely to see, and while the film’s look, storyline and soundtrack get most of the ink I feel this is one facet of its success sadly overlooked.

But the whole cast gets involved, and even when I don’t quite feel like their plot strands offer as much as Kelly obviously wants viewers to believe they do (I’m talking about you, Drew Barrymore, Katherine Ross and Noah Wylie), they still invest so much into their portrayals they almost can’t help but leave an indelible mark. What’s more, when it does matter, like in the case of Mary McDonnell, Holmes Osborne, Patrick Swayze and Jena Malone, the results go beyond sensational, each of them helping to elevate Kelly’s freshman opus to a plane it wouldn’t remotely achieve without them.

It’s nice that Fox’s new Blu-ray release of the film offers up both the original edit as well as the Director’s Cut but I can’t really say I agree with all those that claim that latter version is the far superior one. If anything, I only think the over 30-minutes longer 2004 edit exacerbates the movie’s flaws while also magnifying the fact Kelly has to work overtime to try and get things to make a lick of sense.

To be fair, this director’s cut is not just the same feature with extra scenes thrown in for good measure. Music tracks have been shuffled around, certain sequences are presented in a completely different fashion and excerpts from the time travel book are thrown in here and there in order to give context to the multitude of theorems being discussed.

Don’t misunderstand, while I prefer the original cut I think both are pretty much essential viewing and this collection showcases each of them absolutely splendidly. As each film blends one into the other, it becomes increasingly clear that Kelly was probably never 100-percent certain of what it was he was exactly trying to say, both versions packing a major wallop even if they end up achieving them by slighting differing means.

THE VIDEO

Donnie Darko is presented in 1080p 2.35:1 Widescreen. Stupendous transfers, both of them, and as far as negatives go I have very, very little to think about (let alone say).

THE AUDIO

Available audio tracks include English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (both) and French Dolby Surround (theatrical version only) with optional English SDH, Spanish and French (director’s cut only) subtitles.

THE EXTRAS

This two-disc set comes with three audio commentaries (an absolutely phenomenal one with Kelly and fellow writer-director Kevin Smith on the director’s cut, another fairly decent one with him and actor Gyllenhaal as well as a not quite as engaging third one with a great deal of the cast and crew both on the theatrical cut), the entire collection of Production Diaries which can be watched with an optional commentary by director of photography Steven Poster, “They Made Me Do It: The Cult of Donnie Darko” featurette, the bizarre and almost unwatchable “#1 Fan: A Darkomentary,” a Storyboard-to-Screen featurette and the Director’s Cut Theatrical Trailer.

It’s a lot to get through, but thankfully the majority of it is incredibly strong, the Production Diaries in particular a fascinating watch especially when viewed with the optional commentary. I also like the fact that Kelly is so honest about the film, unafraid to speak about the things  (in both versions) that bother him while also pointing out the scenes he feels are just about spot-on.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Donnie Darko is a mesmerizing journey with plenty of speed bumps yet still remains compelling start to finish thanks to the director’s singular determination behind the camera and the total commitment of the actors in front of it. While not quite the masterpiece many cult aficionados claim, it is still a major work by a young new artist worth taking the time to experience.