What's with the rabbit?

You wouldn’t think of giant bunny rabbits as the kind to give advice. However, Donnie Darko is seeing a giant rabbit named Frankie in a vision. The giant rabbit tells him that the world will end in about four weeks, but doesn’t say how. Meanwhile, the engine from an airplane comes crashing through his house, pretty much destroying his room. Fortunately, Donnie is out of the house at the time; he wakes up the next morning on a golf course.

The next 28 days prove to be very strange. The movie takes place during the 1998 Dukakis/Bush debates, with his father and sister constantly at odds over which candidate is better. They have a neighbor that keeps checking her mail, despite the fact that she never has any. A teacher gives Donnie a book on time travel. Also, the visions continue and are always as disturbing as the first one.

Donnie is considered to be borderline schizophrenic with the rabbit being the sign of Donnie’s break with reality. Frankie gives Donnie instructions on what to do, including committing various crimes. Donnie breaks a water main at the private school he attends; he also puts a hatchet in a large bronze statue and spay paints that ‘they’ made him do it on the ground near the statue. Donnie is on medication, but it doesn’t seem to be helping. (I won’t say why, so as not to ruin the movie.)

Can you tell by now that this is not a movie for children? I think this would give a lot of adults nightmares. There’s very little actual violence, although there is some. A lot of what Donnie does takes place off screen. We never get to see him actually do any of the damage to the school, although he is suspected.

I really don’t think that this movie is for everyone. The movie was recommended to me and I have recommended it to others, but I know a lot of people that wouldn’t be interested in it. It’s a very dark movie. I can’t even really tell you what other movies it’s like. It is somewhat like Pulp Fiction and other movies like that. There were parts that reminded me of Memento, which I’ve also seen recently. However, it’s impossible for me to say that if you like some other movie that you’ll like this one.

I give the movie five stars. I’ve never seen the original version, so I can’t tell you how it differs from the director’s cut. However, I did like this one. Many of the questions are answered. However, you’ll still have a few once the movie is over. As I said, while I can’t recommend the movie to everyone, there are people that I would recommend it to. If you’re looking for something a little different, this is your movie.