Donnie Darko (2001)
82%RT Audience Score: 80%
Awards & Nominations: 12 wins & 16 nominations
Richard Kelly’s debut feature Donnie Darko is a daring, original vision, packed with jarring ideas and intelligence and featuring a remarkable performance from Jake Gyllenhaal as the troubled title character
Donnie Darko is a movie that’s so good, it made Jake Gyllenhaal a star. And let’s be real, who doesn’t love Jake Gyllenhaal? The movie is a mix of genres and influences that somehow all come together to create something amazing. Sure, it’s a bit complicated and dense, but that’s what makes it so great. Plus, it has a surprisingly sincere and compassionate edge that really hits you in the feels. So if you’re looking for a movie that’s both otherworldly and human, Donnie Darko is the way to go.
Production Company(ies)
London Film Productions,
Distributor
Newmarket Film Group
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
4225 Country Club Drive, Long Beach, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for language, some drug use and violence
Year of Release
2001
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:1h 53m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Oct 26, 2001 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 4, 2003
Genre(s)
Fantasy
Keyword(s)
starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, James Duval, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Mary McDonnell, Sean McKittrick, Nancy Juvonen, directed by Richard Kelly, written by Richard Kelly, Fantasy, R, box office, budget, reviewed by Tara Brady, Nick Schager, Peter Travers, Lisa Alspector, Todd McCarthy, Alan Morrison, Stephen Silver, Rafael Paz, Mike Massie, Erik Anderson, Rachel Wagner, cult classic, time travel, mental illness, apocalypse, death, mind-bending, original vision, remarkable performance, suburban America, secrets of the universe, altered time, destiny, Dolby Digital, Dolby SR, Surround, Dolby Stereo, Dolby A, Scope (2.35:1), Newmarket Film Group
Worldwide gross: $6,980,371
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $11,763,939
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,913
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 1,282,872
US/Canada gross: $1,478,493
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $2,491,687
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,981
US/Canada opening weekend: $110,494
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $186,214
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,690
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $6,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $10,111,731
Production budget ranking: 1,661
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $5,445,167
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$3,792,959
ROI to date (est.): -24%
ROI ranking: 1,527
Jena Malone – Gretchen Ross
Drew Barrymore – Ms. Karen Pomeroy
James Duval – Frank
Maggie Gyllenhaal – Elizabeth Darko
Mary McDonnell – Rose Darko
Director(s)
Richard Kelly
Writer(s)
Richard Kelly
Producer(s)
Sean McKittrick, Nancy Juvonen
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
12 wins & 16 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (118) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (102) | Rotten (16)
Donnie Darko rightly made a star of Gyllenhaal.
January 10, 2017 | Rating: 5/5
Tara Brady
Irish Times
TOP CRITIC
Defines itself through sustained mood, otherworldly intrigue and deep, abiding humanism.
June 20, 2011 | Rating: A-
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness
TOP CRITIC
August 14, 2007 | Rating: 3/4
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
TOP CRITIC
Kelly is a supple and courageous storyteller, boldly free-associating as he mixes parody and satire with earnest psychodrama and coming up with plot points no one could anticipate.
June 8, 2007
Lisa Alspector
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Donnie Darko has plenty of problems. But most stem from a young filmmaker overswinging on his first time up to the plate and hitting a deep fly out rather than a home run.
June 8, 2007
Todd McCarthy
Variety
TOP CRITIC
A mini-masterpiece that marks the arrival of brave new talents in Gyllenhaal and Kelly. Cult glory beckons.
March 30, 2003 | Rating: 4/5
Alan Morrison
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Rewatching it now it’s shocking how much it anticipated about life today. (20th anniversary)
October 29, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Stephen Silver
Tilt Magazine
Kelly adds to this central theme another of the topics that is constantly manifested throughout his work: the possibilities of the divine and the guilt of knowing those designs while we are alive.
January 19, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Rafael Paz
Butaca Ancha
Every ounce of creativity is met with an equal serving of disappointing nebulousness.
September 29, 2020 | Rating: 5/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
It’s a dense, complicated and amazing amalgam of genres and influences that really defies any constraints.
April 7, 2020 | Rating: 4/4
Erik Anderson
AwardsWatch
I certainly didn’t have an emotional bond with the film. Still, I admire the risk taking and what it has to say about mental illness.
March 7, 2019 | Rating: B
Rachel Wagner
rachelsreviews.net
It’s ultimately the piece’s surprisingly sincere, compassionate edge which transmits the most.
November 12, 2018 | Rating: 4/5
PJ Nabarro
Patrick Nabarro…
Plot
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.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
No goofy or funny or odd comments were found in the Fresh Kernels database for Donnie Darko.
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