By Stephen Pytak 

     If you were the kind of kid in high school who the other 
kids called "weird," this film is going to touch you.
     It's the story of a Catholic high school student from 
Virginia, "Donnie (Gyllenhaal)," who suffers from 
emotional problems. He's smart. His SAT scores are too 
high, his principal suggests. But he's troubled. He sleep 
walks. He also tells us he set fire to an abandoned home 
some time back. As a result, he won't be able to get his 
driver's license until he's 21.
     I had a friend in high school sort of like this guy. So 
I can really relate. My friend stole hub caps off cars, ran 
away from home once and disappeared for a week. But 
Donnie's got one up on him.
     Donnie is seeing things.
     "I met a new friend," he tells his psychologist (Ross).
     "Real or imaginary," she asks.
     "Imaginary," he says.
     That friend is "Frank the Bunny." If they celebrated 
Easter in Hell, he would be the mascot. He's a demon 
wearing a furry bunny costume. His face is skull-like. 
He's got pointy teeth and deformed ears.
     He pops up throughout the film, tells Donnie that the 
world will end in 28 days and encourages him to explore 
the possibilities of time travel.
     Soon, Donnie is seeing worm holes in time and space 
open up right up before his very eyes. Like the rabbit in 
"Alice in Wonderland," Frank leads Donnie down one 
in particular.
     Frank also leads Donnie on a path of destruction. He 
tells him to flood buildings, cause vandalism and torch 
private property. Why? It's anyone's guess. Considering 
that Frank is from beyond, maybe it's cosmic justice.
     The crazy rabbit aside, there's a lot more going on 
here.
     The film is a human drama about going to school and 
having a girlfriend, mental illness and the meaning of life.
     There's even a message here about Catholic school 
education.
     At Donnie's school, there are a number of educators 
who only see things in black and white. One is a Christian 
writer (Swayze) who insists there are only two paths in 
life, love and fear. Some teachers consider him a saint.
     The writer calls Donnie "a product of fear."
     Donnie, who is gray (or maybe darker, as his name 
suggests), calls him the anti-Christ. 
     The two go head to head when the writer is preaching 
at the school. And that's a really great scene. 
     The film encourages us to fight ignorance. But Frank 
takes the fight to new levels by telling Donnie to light a 
match. Yikes!
     There are so many interesting things about "Donnie 
Darko," it's kind of hard to sum them all up in one 
review. 
     I like that there are so many things going on. On the 
one hand, the film is a drama. It's also a fantasy film. 
It's science-fiction. Then for a moment, it's horror. Then 
it's touching. I don't know a lot of films that can do all 
that.
     The film has a great score and soundtrack. The 
stand-out song is "Mad World." It was originally 
composed by Tears for Fears. But the remake in the film 
by Gary Jules blows the original away. 
     The film has a cult following, I found out. And if 
you talk to a fan, no doubt they'll rap on and on about 
Frank the Bunny. He makes quite an impression. In 
fact, there are some fans who are making Frank 
costumes right now as you read this.