Movie Analysis: Donnie Darko

Donnie Darko is a movie that cannot be classified as only one type of movie; it is a teen movie, a violent movie, as well as a hero story. This cult classic is, in fact, one of the only movies that can embody more than one genre, and it succeeds in all three. Donnie Darko is the convoluted, dark story about a boy named Donnie Darko and his mission to save the world in his own, quiet but heroic way.

The simplest classification - because they tend to be so superficial - is Donnie Darko as a teen movie. This is not a typical teen movie, partially because these characters actually have layers of personality, but it certainly qualifies. Donnie is a teenager and, since he is "troubled", he has plenty of the requisite teen angst. About half the movie also occurs in a high school, which is typical in any teen movie, as is the seemingly required party, complete with alcohol, which Donnie's sister throws on Halloween. This party is also the setting for an implied sex scene with the cute, but not entirely teen movie, girlfriend, Gretchen. The last two things that make Donnie Darko into a teen movie is the presence of two burnout bullies and the entirely oblivious, ineffectual adults and authority figures.

Donnie Darko is also a violent movie, but the majority of the violence is either implied or inflicted upon objects, until the end. One of the first scenes in the movie is a plane turbine crashing into the Darko house, obviously a violent scene. As the movie continues and Frank, the bunny, becomes more involved, Donnie is driven to vandalize his school by cutting the water main and sinking an axe into the bronze head of the school's mascot. Later, Frank motivates Donnie, to burn down a corrupt motivational speaker's home. The end of Donnie Darko is really the most violent section, beginning when Donnie and Gretchen are threatened by the bullies, who were armed, and attempting to rob Grandma Death's house, on Halloween night. During this Gretchen is thrown into the middle of a road and run over by a car being driven by a kid dressed up like Frank. Donnie shoots the driver and carries Gretchen's body home. This is where the hero part of the story becomes evident.

Only at the very end of the movie does the viewer realize that this is also a hero movie. Donnie starts the movie as anything but a hero, not only is he young, but he is also mentally disturbed. When Frank enters his life and gives him the task of saving the world, Donnie is reluctant, until he reads the book about time travel written by Grandma Death. Then he accepts Frank's prediction and advice as true, but is slowed by both his therapist and medication. Donnie hits rock bottom on Halloween night, when Gretchen is killed, but immediately realizes what he must do to set everything right, and so takes charge of his own destiny. Because he has killed a boy he is chased by the police, but manages to evade them so he can complete his quest. What truly makes this a hero story, but also a non-traditional hero story, is that Donnie sacrifices himself to save the people he loves. By allowing himself to be killed by the plane turbine he allows everyone else to live. This last act transforms Donnie into a Christ-figure.

Donnie Darko is a movie that requires at least a certain amount of discussion, and deserves every bit of it. If one were to passively watch this movie they would gain absolutely nothing from it and end the movie confused. However, upon some introspection, Donnie Darko fits into any number of different movie classifications, but most broadly into the genres of teen, violent, and hero stories. Somehow, this movie manages to pull off all three and still put an individual twist on each