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  Movies
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DONNIE DARKO

"Jim Cunningham"


(2001) 122 minutes

Director: Richard Kelly

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko), Holmes Osborne (Eddie Darko), Mary McDonnell (Rose Darko), Drew Barrymore (Ms Karen Pomeroy), Patrick Swayze (Jim Cunningham), Noah Wylie (Dr Monnitoff), Jena Malone (Gretchen Ross), Katharine Ross (Dr Lilian Thurman).

The film is set in 1988. Our main character is Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal), the ideal, all-American teenager. He becomes a reluctant celebrity at High School after narrowly cheating death by avoiding a falling five thousand-pound jet engine. Donnie has a secret - he has an imaginary friend, visible only to him. His name is Frank and he is a six-foot horrific deformity!

Frank tells Donnie that the sky is indeed falling, and that Donnie is destined for a unique purpose. Weird things begin to happen, starting with the vandalising of Donnie's school. The local community mobilises to investigate the goings-on. The Police question the students and a PTA meeting ends with accusations being thrown in every direction, including at the schools' English teacher, Ms Pomeroy (Drew Barrymore).

The morale of the school-children is shattered, so a new age guru, Jim Cunningham (Patrick Swayze) is hired to heal the childrens' self-esteem. Patrick's character has been described as a "Tony Robbins" type character. (Tony Robbins is a "personal empowerment" coach who believes that we all have it within ourselves to be what we want to be.) Donnie Darko discovers that his world and the lives of those around him are threatened. He alone can affect the outcome.........