Just finished Donnie Darko for the first time and...(spoiler warning)

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I was pretty dissapointed by the ending! I was captivated with the plot during the whole film with a ton of questions (what does that chubby girl have to do with anything? What were those bullies doing in the bottom cellar? etc.) that eventually led to no answers. I felt like the film was all set up with no real reward.

For example, what was the point of that chubby girl????? She had a ton of close-ups throughout the film and you really felt like she would be this uber-important character but nothing happened.

The big question for me though is what was the purpose of traveling back through time in the end? I fail to see what it accomplished aside from saving Jena Malone's character. Also, doesn't going back in time to have Donnie killed remove the positive things he did like sending Patrick Swayze's character to jail?

I saw the original theatrical release and know that there is a director's cut out there. Would it answer some of my questions?

So don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed the film but the ending just wasn't satisfying.

EDIT: Ok, here is my current dilemma. Frank is pretty much shown as a good/nuetral being trying to help (i think) Donnie but it seems like all he's doing is messing him up.

Frank ultimately had a detrimental effect on Donnie's life because if Frank wasn't around then Donnie wouldn't have done the things that lead to the deaths; he wouldn't have busted the water valve that caused the firing of Drew Barrymore, he wouldn't have destroyed Swayze's house which causes the deaths of his mom and dad, and he would've had no reason to look under the cellar of the old woman meaning that his girlfriend wouldn't have gotten killed.

So maybe Frank is actually completely screwing up his life!

Anybody have any counterpoints to this?
 
I don't think your questions are all supposed to be answered with a movie like this. Having not seen it for a couple months, I'll do my best to offer my opinions though.

I honestly don't remember the chubby girl you're talking about... maybe I'll watch it again tonight and be able to get back to you on her. As for why he went back in time, that's exactly why. Gretchen was the first person that Donnie really connected with and actually loved and with her gone and the indian guy dead, he didn't feel that he had anything left to live for. He wanted to do the 'right thing' and not make her suffer for getting involved with him, and thought that the best way to do it would be to not let her know him in the first place.

Just my opinion, I'm sure you'll get 10-20 different ones with a movie like this.
 
I've seen this movie about 3 times, but never the Director's Cut.

The bullies were in the cellar because they were looking for Ms. Sparrow's "fortune" (the science teacher said that some people thought she had money, or something like that when Donnie was talking to him - it was the part where he was explaining how one day she just changed, stop being a nun, and wrote the time travel book).

By traveling through time, Donnie saved more than Gretchen, he also saved Frankie, Drew Barrymore's teaching job (sorry I forget her name! lol), his mom, and his sister (his mom and sister were on the flight that was going down at the end, but if it wasn't for Patrick Swayze's character being put in jail, they would have never had to go to Star Search on that particular flight).

The fat girl (I'm sorry, I don't remember her name) was important because she had a crush on Donnie but was made fun of because she was chinese. The ridicule intensified when Donnie said at the motivational meeting (in response to the boy who said "I think my step-sister is fat") that if "You think your stepsister is fat, tell her to get off the couch, stop eating fritos, and exercise" So that's why she started wearing earmuffs because she was getting made fun of worse afterward (well, that's what I think)

I hope this helps

Edit:

I forgot to add, near the end Donnie says to the chubby girl "Don't worry, everything will be better for you in the future" and grabs her head. The girl says "get away" and runs but when she drops her books, it has Donnie's name on them (like with hearts)...so that's pretty much telling her that he's sorry and things will be better for her when he dies and now he knows she had a crush on him.
 
I'm sorry...I forgot to add:

Drew Barrymore's character would have kept her job if Donnie died because he was the one that broke the water pipe in the school. A PTA meeting was called to discusss the issue and during that meeting the religious health teacher went off about how Graham Greene's stories were "filth" and the kids shouldn't be taught that because breaking the water pipe was a reinactment of one of the scenes from his short stories. The religious teacher probably wouldn't have gone off or had such an outlet to do so if the PTA meeting wasn't called, the water pipe wasn't broke, and the ax wasn't stuck in the mascot's head.

...and yes, if Donnie died, the good stuff he did would have been wasted, but it doesn't matter since he's dead and more people are alive because of him in the story. He killed Frank, so would have gone to jail, but he did so knowing he was going to die before the police arrested him

The whole point is every little thing in the film is linked and it brings up the whole issue of free-will or predestination. Ultimately, Donnie was happier dying.
 
[quote name='SadieDee']I'm sorry...I forgot to add:

Drew Barrymore's character would have kept her job if Donnie died because he was the one that broke the water pipe in the school. A PTA meeting was called to discusss the issue and during that meeting the religious health teacher went off about how Graham Greene's stories were "filth" and the kids shouldn't be taught that because breaking the water pipe was a reinactment of one of the scenes from his short stories. The religious teacher probably wouldn't have gone off or had such an outlet to do so if the PTA meeting wasn't called, the water pipe wasn't broke, and the ax wasn't stuck in the mascot's head.

...and yes, if Donnie died, the good stuff he did would have been wasted, but it doesn't matter since he's dead and more people are alive because of him in the story. He killed Frank, so would have gone to jail, but he did so knowing he was going to die before the police arrested him

The whole point is every little thing in the film is linked and it brings up the whole issue of free-will or predestination. Ultimately, Donnie was happier dying.[/QUOTE]

Wow, great explanation in both of your posts, thanks! Maybe you can help me out with one more thing then. What is up with Frankie the white rabbit? When we start watching the movie Frankie has apparently already been killed in an alternate timeline which is why he's dead when he visits Donnie. So why does he visit Donnie at all?

EDIT: Well, I guess in keeping with your theory, maybe Frankie wants to come back to right his wrong (i.e. running over the girlfriend).
 
I always thought of this movie as a combo of two Jimmy Stewart movies ("Harvey" and "It's a Wonderful Life").

Frank was playing a role similar to Clarence in "It's a Wonderful Life." Only he was showing what the world would be like with Donnie instead of without.

EDIT: I haven't seen the director's cut. I heard that things were a little more linear, clearly explained and I just don't know if I want that. Thinking during and after a movie isn't such a bad thing.
 
The Director's Cut adds in stuff that was previously only on the Donnie Darko website way back, which is a few pages from the time travel book explaining what was going on. Stuff about the tangent universe, manipulated dead, etc. Explains more, but not everything.
 
[quote name='sheepboy_1923']I always thought of this movie as a combo of two Jimmy Stewart movies ("Harvey" and "It's a Wonderful Life").

Frank was playing a role similar to Clarence in "It's a Wonderful Life." Only he was showing what the world would be like with Donnie instead of without.[/QUOTE]

That's an interesting way of putting it. So Frank was showing how the world with Donnie lead to a lot of chaos and pain which then causes him to kill himself.

Here's the problem though: Frank ultimately had a detrimental effect on Donnie's life because if Frank wasn't around then Donnie wouldn't have done the things that lead to the deaths; he wouldn't have busted the water valve that caused the firing of Drew Barrymore, he wouldn't have destroyed Swayze's house which causes the deaths of his mom and dad, and he would've had no reason to look under the cellar of the old woman meaning that his girlfriend wouldn't have gotten killed.

So maybe Frank is actually completely screwing up his life!

Anybody have any counterpoints to this?
 
MY friend said this movie was the best movie ever and hyped it up more than halo 2... thing is when I saw it, i wanted to cry after wasting those 2 hours.
 
I realy think this was one of the most over rated movies in history I like these styles of movies but I was realy let down and seemed bored.
 
[quote name='help1']MY friend said this movie was the best movie ever and hyped it up more than halo 2... thing is when I saw it, i wanted to cry after wasting those 2 hours.[/QUOTE]
Same thing happened to me.
 
Here's how I interpretted some things..

The "point" of the movie (imho) was that Donnie was able to live beyond his time of death initially to a certain point. Frank was meant to show him that this wasn't necessarily his destiny. Donnie as a character is very depressed, living a life that seemingly was going nowhere. He was essentially dead from the beginning of the movie if you want to be emo about it.

Anyway, by living past the plane crash (which should have killed him in the first place), he is able to live a few weeks longer. During this time he meets Gretchen and falls in love, experiencing the first honest connection to another human in his life. It was a way for him to finally find peace on Earth before dying, which, had it happened at the original moment, he would have died lonely, sad, depressed, etc.

Now then, the time travel stuff factors in because he goes up to that cliff and realizes he can travel back to that point in time he was supposed to die. He realizes it is a decision only he can make - it will undo certain events (outing Patrick Swayze, meeting Gretchen, etc), BUT it will allow him to save Gretchen, which is overwhelmingly what he'd rather have. So he travels back in time to that point, he dies, but he's finally experienced a genuine and authentic happiness.

So essentially...
1) He's depressed.
2) He falls in love with Gretchen and truly experiences love/happiness.
3) He makes the decision to go back in time and die, knowing that he has finally found solace.

This leads to...

1) Chubby girl: As others have said, she had a crush on him. He knows that certain events will happen in the future and essentially tells her that things will get better for her.

2) The "superhero" schematic always sat strangely with me, but I think it has to do with his ability to travel, impale an axe in solid stone, rescue/save Gretchen, tells the chubby girl her life will improve, etc.

3) Frank was meant to essentially be a path towards Donny's ultimate decision point of going back in the past to die or living knowing that he has finally experienced love.

4) The old woman was supposedly rich and knew all about time travel.

That's all I can think of for now, and I could be extraordinarily wrong, but meh, just thought I'd mention it.
 
SPOILERS

The key to understanding the movie is The Philosophy of Time Travel book Donnie receives from his science teacher. This can be read on the DVD or the movie's web site. For everyone's convenience, I'll copy the pages here.

Foreword

I would like to thank the sisters of the Saint John Chapter in Alexandria, Virginia for their support in my decision.

By the grace of God, they are:

Sister Eleanor Lewis
Sister Francesca Godard
Sister Helen Davis
Sister Catherine Arnold
Sister Mary Lee Pond
Sister Virginia Wessex

This intent of this book is for it to be used as a simple and direct guide in a time of great danger.

I pray that this is merely a work of fiction.

If it is not, then I pray for you, the reader of this book.

If I am still alive when the events foretold in these pages occur, then I hope that you will find me before it is too late.

Roberta Ann Sparrow
October, 1944

Chapter One: The Tangent Universe

The primary universe is fraught with great peril. War, plague, famine and natural disaster are common. Death comes to us all.

The Fourth Dimension of Time is a stable construct, though it is not impenetrable.

Incidents when the fabric of the fourth dimension becomes corrupted are incredibly rare.

If a Tangent Universe occurs, it will be highly unstable, sustaining itself for no longer than several weeks.

Eventually it will collapse upon itself, forming a black hole within the Primary Universe capable of destroying all existence.
 
Chapter Two: Water and Metal

Water and Metal are the key elements of Time Travel.

Water is the barrier element for the construction of Time Portals used as gateways between Universes at the Tangent Vortex.

Metal is the transitional element for the construction of Artifact Vessels.

Chapter Four: The Artifact And The Living

When a Tangent Universe occurs, those living nearest to the Vortex will find themselves at the epicenter of a dangerous new world.

Artifacts provide first sign that a Tangent Universe has occured.

If an Artifact occurs, the Living will retrieve it with great interest and curiosity. Artifacts are formed from metal, such as an Arrowhead from an ancient Mayan civilisation, or a Metal Sword from Medieval Europe.

Artifacts returned to the Primary Universe are often linked to religious Iconography, as their appearance on Earth seems to defy logical explanation.

Divine intervention is deemed the only logical conclusion for the appearance for the Artifact.

Chapter Six: The Living Receiver

The Living Receiver is chosen to guide the Artifact into position for its journey back to the Primary Universe.

No one knows how or why a Receiver will be chosen.

The Living Receiver is often blessed with a Fourth Dimensional Powers. These include increased strength, telekinesis, mind control, and the ability to conjure fire and water.

The Living Receiver is often tormented by terrifying dreams, visions and auditory hallucinations during his time within the Tangent Universe.

Those surrounding the Living Receiver, known as the Manipulated, will fear him and try to destroy him.

Chapter Seven: The Manipulated Living

The Manipulated Living are often the close friends and neighbours of the Living Receiver.

They are prone to irrational, bizarre, and often violent behaviour. This is the unfortunate result of their task, which is to assist the Living Receiver in returning the Artifact to the Primary Universe.

The Manipulated Living will do anything to save themselves from Oblivion.
 
OK, now how does that fit in to the plot of Donnie Darko?

A wormhole is formed over a suburban town in October 1988. This forms a tangent universe, or an alternate universe that touches the primary (main) universe at exactly one place in time (midnight, Oct. 2, 1988). A jet engine in the primary universe falls off its plane during the flight on Oct. 30, and falls into the wormhole. It exits the wormhole in the tangent universe. There are now two of the exact same engines (or artifacts) in one universe, creating an imbalance. This imbalance corrupts the time-space continuum, and as a result, the tangent universe becomes unstable. It will remain stable for the time Frank tells Donnie (28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds). It will then collapse, forming a black hole, which will then destroy the primary universe.

To prevent this, a Higher Power (God, Allah, Buddha, etc.) chooses Donnie, a teenage chronic sleepwalker, and who fears being alone in the afterlife, to become the Living Receiver. His job is to take the artifact (the jet engine) from the tangent universe, and send it into the primary universe, thus restoring the balance, and closing the wormhole, saving all existence in the process. He is given "superpowers" to aid him in his task. The book lists these as increased strength, telekinesis, mind control, and the ability to conjure fire and water. Another one the book doesn't mention is the ability to see other's immediate futures (via their life paths a.k.a. their liquid spears). These powers, at first, appear to only work when Donnie is half-asleep or sleepwalking, but by the end, he has apparently learned to master them while he is fully conscious.

The Living Receiver will often have dreams and hallucinations while in the tangent universe (These do not explain Frank; they explain Donnie's dreams about the "city on water").

Everybody in the tangent universe is subconsciously aware of Donnie's task, and give him clues needed to complete his task. An example of these is "cellar door". The people are known as Manipulated Living.

If anyone dies in the tangent universe, they become Manipulated Dead. They can use the 4th Dimension Construct to help the Living Receiver. Frank is Donnie's older sister's boyfriend. He is killed early on Oct. 30 by Donnie, by a gunshot to the eye after accidently running over Gretchen, Donnie's girlfriend, while wearing the rabbit suit. He becomes a Manipulated Dead, and is assigned by the Higher Power to go back in time and guide Donnie to where he needs to be to complete his task. He sets up an "ensurance trap" (him running over Gretchen, leaving Donnie no choice but to go through with his task), and has Donnie complete certain tasks (flooding the school, setting Jim Cunningham's house on fire) to make sure the ensurance trap happens.

Once Donnie uses his telekinesis (one of his powers) to knock the jet engine off the plane (which his mother and sister happen to be on) into the wormhole and back to the primary universe, everybody is sent back to the primary universe along with it. Because the two universes touch at the exact same spot, everybody returns to the primary universe at the exact same point in time: Oct. 2, 1988. Anyone who is asleep (almost everybody) or half-asleep (Elizabeth) will think it was just a dream. They all will remember a specific part of their "dream". Cherita Chen being told that everything will be OK, Kitty Farmer learning about Jim Cunningham's secret, Jim knowing he will sooner or later get caught, and although we don't see it, Grandma Death getting Donnie's letter. Those who are awake at the time will remember. The example the film shows is Frank. He is honking his car horn when Elizabeth is walking into the house. He is aware that the jet engine will be landing on Donnie's bedroom, and is trying to wake up Donnie to save him.
 
One thing that isn't explained is whether Donnie remembers. There are two possibilities:

1) He also thinks it was just a crazy dream.
2) He is no longer afraid of death, because he knows he will not die alone (remember, that was one of his fears), and he accepts his fate.

Even though he does physically die by himself (he's all alone in his room), in the afterlife, he is not alone. He's convinced that God (or another Higher Power) does exist, and that his fear is unfounded.

And a few more notes that I didn't mention...

Cherita Chen represents both Donnie himself (by the fact that they are both loners, his name is on her book, and later, he wears her earmuffs), and all the good people he will be saving, should he complete his task.

Roberta Sparrow a.k.a. Grandma Death is the author of The Philosophy of Time Travel. In the Foreword of the book, she says that she hopes that the events in the book are fiction, but if they aren't, to contact her. This is why she's always going to her mailbox. She's starting to lose her faith (as a result of nobody writing her), and her telling Donnie that everyone dies alone shows this. She supposedly regains her faith after getting Donnie's letter, and we're led to assume that she remembers the letter when everybody returns to the primary universe.

The man in the red jogging suit is one of the FAA guys keeping an eye on Donnie.

The bathroom scenes with Frank and Donnie show the relevance of water and metal in the tangent universe. They are the two main "elements" used for time travel, according to the book.
 
I wrote an essay explaining Donnie Darko... and that wasn't it. I stole that one, as I couldn't find mine.

Enjoy. ;)
 
[quote name='sblymnlcrymnl']I wouldn't bother with the DC, I only bought/watched it for the commentary w/ Kevin Smith. :lol:[/QUOTE]

I like the music setup on the directors cut better, but I'd say the commentary is the best part.
 
The explanation Brak posted was definitely one of the better ones - I found it very helpful (having read some before).

The movie requires a few watches to sorta get it. The director's cut helps a lot. Even then, there's still a few different ways you can interpret it. The way a good movie should be :D
 
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