 All-Star Cast In A "Classic Psychological Thriller!" -Compuserve In the tradition of Stir of Echoes and Final Destination, Donnie Darko is an edgy, psychological thriller about a suburban teen coming face-to-face with his dark destiny. Jake Gyllenhaal leads a star filled cast (including Drew Barrymore, Noah Wyle, Jena Malone, Patrick Swayze and Mary McDonnell) as a delusional high school student visited by a demonic rabbit with eerie visions of the past and deadly predictions for the future. This "excitingly original" (Entertainment Weekly) nail-biter will keep you on the edge of your seat until the mind-bending climax. Storyline: Donnie Darko doesn't get along too well with his family, his teachers and his classmates; but he does manage to find a sympathetic friend in Gretchen, who agrees to date him. He has a compassionate psychiatrist, who discovers hypnosis is the means to unlock hidden secrets. His other companion may not be a true ally. Donnie has a friend named Frank - a large bunny which only Donnie can see. When an engine falls off a plane and destroys his bedroom, Donnie is not there. Both the event, and Donnie's escape, seem to have been caused by supernatural events. Donnie's mental illness, if such it is, may never allow him to find out for sure. Written by J. Spurlin Plot: On October 2, 1988, Donnie Darko, a troubled teenager living in Middlesex, Virginia, is awakened and led outside by a figure in a monstrous rabbit costume, who introduces himself as "Frank" and tells him the world will end in 28 days. At dawn, Donnie returns home to find a jet engine has crashed into his bedroom. His older sister, Elizabeth, informs him the FAA investigators don't know where it came from. Donnie tells his psychologist Dr. Thurman about his continuing visits from Frank. Acting under Frank's influence, he floods his school by damaging a water main. He also begins dating new student Gretchen Ross, who has moved to town with her mother under a new identity to escape her violent stepfather. Gym teacher Kitty Farmer blames the flooding on the influence of the short story "The Destructors", assigned by dedicated English teacher Karen Pomeroy, and begins teaching attitude lessons taken from motivational speaker Jim Cunningham. Donnie rebels against these motivational lessons, leading to friction between Kitty and Donnie's mother Rose. Donnie asks his science teacher Dr. Kenneth Monnitoff about time travel after Frank brings up the topic, and is given the book The Philosophy of Time Travel, written by Roberta Sparrow, a former science teacher at the school who is now a seemingly senile old woman. Dr. Thurman tells Donnie's parents that he is detached from reality, and that his visions of Frank are "daylight hallucinations", symptomatic of paranoid schizophrenia. Donnie disrupts a speech being given by Jim Cunningham by insulting him in front of the student body, then burns down Cunningham's house on instructions from Frank. When police find evidence of a child pornography operation in the house's remains, Cunningham is arrested. During a hypnotherapy session, Donnie confesses his crimes to Dr. Thurman and says that Frank will soon kill someone. Rose agrees to replace Kitty as chaperone for her daughter Samantha's dance troupe in Los Angeles, so Kitty can testify in Cunningham's defense; with her husband Eddie in New York on business, her older children are home alone. Donnie and Elizabeth take the opportunity to throw a Halloween party to celebrate her acceptance to Harvard. Gretchen arrives, distraught that her mother has disappeared. Realizing that only hours remain before Frank's prophesied end of the world, Donnie takes Gretchen and two friends to seek Roberta Sparrow at her house. They are attacked by two school bullies who are attempting to rob Sparrow's house, and the fight spills into the street. An oncoming car swerves to avoid Sparrow but runs over Gretchen, killing her. The driver is Elizabeth's boyfriend Frank, wearing the same rabbit costume as the Frank of Donnie's visions. Donnie shoots him with his father's gun. As a vortex forms in dark clouds above his house, Donnie drives into the hills and watches as an airplane descends above. The plane, carrying Rose and the dance troupe, is wrenched violently as one of its engines detaches and falls into the vortex. Events of the previous 28 days recapitulate in reverse order and action, until Donnie finds himself in bed in the early hours of October 2. As he sits laughing uncontrollably, the jet engine crashes through his room, killing him. Others with whom Donnie had interacted in the 28 days awaken, some looking disturbed. Gretchen rides by Donnie's house and learns of his death from a neighborhood boy, but says she did not know him. Gretchen and Rose exchange a glance and wave as if they know one another, but cannot remember where from. Cast Notes: Jake Gyllenhaal (Donald 'Donnie' Darko), Jena Malone (Gretchen Ross), Mary McDonnell (Mrs. Rose Darko), Drew Barrymore (Ms. Karyn Pomeroy), Patrick Swayze (Jim Cunningham), Holmes Osborne (Mr. Edward Darko), Katharine Ross (Dr. Lillian Thurman), Noah Wyle (Prof. Kenneth Monnitoff), Beth Grant (Ms. Kitty Farmer), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Elizabeth Darko), Daveigh Chase (Samantha Darko), James Duval (Frank / 'The Rabbit'), Stuart Stone (Ronald Fisher), Gary Lundy (Sean Smith), Alex Greenwald (Seth Devlin). IMDb Rating (01/16/17): 8.1/10 from 602,140 users Top 250: #226
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