Donnie Darko and Number 81

This past weekend I finally watched Donnie Darko (2001), the movie I've been reading about for a year or two as a modern cult classic. Without knowing much of anything about it, I viewed the movie only with the impression that I should like it because Entertainment Weekly told me to. Sometimes, EW recommendations pay off such as when I saw Office Space (1999) after reading about it. I thought Office Space was slyly humorous with a bit of insight into corporate american culture. With Donnie Darko, the story went slightly different.

Donnie Darko tells the story of a troubled rich kid in search of the "truth" (as troubled kids often do in movies). Darko lives his life detached from reality, taking medications and seeing his psychologist while living with a family that would like to hide him away until he gets "better". Darko narrowly avoids death by sleeping in the golf course as his room is crushed by a jet engine. The near death experience motivates Darko to find purpose in life.

From Darko's point of view, the "truth" lies in the hypocracy and inconvenient facts that upper class america wants to ignore. Donnie Darko refuses to conform to conservative america's creed. Is he a troubled and possibly psychotic lunatic or a rebel revealing the dark side of reality that the majority wants to ignore? You make the call.

The movie stacks the deck both ways, with Donnie Darko having visions of time travel and a malicious bunny telling him to do evil deeds. On the other hands, Darko's evil deeds often result in exposing the hidden dark side of "upstanding" citizens. The film wisely underplays these events to keep some semiblance of realism going, a move that proves to be effective. It kept me mildly interested throughout the movie until the big twist ending.

Some things threw me about this movie, such as the decent quality special effects and the hollywood cast. Usually, films of this type are somewhat indie and lacks the polish provided by good financial backing. To see actors such as Jake and Maggie Gyllenhall (sp?), Mary McDonnell, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze and Noah Wyle appear in a dark film was surprising. The movie is well acted, though I wasn't entirely convinced by Jake Gyllenhall in the lead role. Gyllenhall sold me on acting disturbed, but I didn't quite buy the moments where he had to project vulnerability or chaos. His acting just seemed a little mannered to me. Also, I really didn't believe Gyllenhall was a teenager. In one scene, Drew Barrymore is portraying Gyllenhall's teacher and they look the same age.

So why is this movie a cult classic? The best I can tell, it must have to do with the setting. Donnie Darko is like Ferris Bueller, if Ferris Bueller had an axe to grind with the world. It seems a lot of people can get behind that. I just thought it was OK. Otherwise, the themes of time and its effects on identity and memory has been explored in better detail with other movies released about the same time as Darko. Being John Malkovich (1999), Memento (2000) and Mulholland Drive (2001) are better movies about similar subjects. Particularly Mulholland Drive, that movie is a total trip!

One thing I really enjoyed was the music in this movie. 80's classics such as Tears for Fears "Head Over Heels", Duran Duran's "Notorious" and The Church's "Under The Milky Way" get a lot of exposure here. But lets face facts, if Darko was really disturbed in the 80's he would have listened to Number 81:

Metallica - Ride The Lightning (1984)

It's hard to believe now, but there was a time when Metallica wasn't a bunch of careerist snobs. There was a time when Metallica was a band on a mission: To rock as hard as possible and not worry about whether other people liked it or not.
Ride The Lightning captures the band at a time when their songcraft was developing and their riffs hit fast and furious. Heavy riffing, growling vocals and rapid fire drums attack on every song. "Fight Fire With Fire", "Ride The Lightning" and "Creeping Death" pound away with the force and velocity of a jet engine (a subliminal Donnie Darko reference I guess) thanks to the rhythm section of drummer Lars Ulrich, bassist Cliff Burton and guitarist James Hetfield. Hetfield's vocals bark like a crazed drill sargent as he tackles themes like war ("For Whom The Bell Tolls"), Passover ("Creeping Death") and the electric chair ("Ride The Lightning"). Lead guitarist Kirk Hammett blazes through his solos with precision and speed.

"Fade To Black", a song written about the band's equipment being stolen while touring Europe, is the classic on the album. "Black" is often voted among the best Metallica songs ever by their fans. It may have to do with the song structure, it begins with a quiet acoustic intro, picks up speed in the middle and ends with a melodic guitar solos racing to the big finish. Sort of like "Stairway To Heaven", but faster.

Ride The Lightning is by far the darkest Metallica album, many of the songs carry morbid themes. However, the themes are offset by their performance which sounds like a band fighting for their goals and dreams. A little shocking to hear from the band that would later give us half hearted stuff like the Reload (1997) album.

Don't get me wrong, I still like Metallica quite a bit. I finally saw them play live at a Rolling Stones concert last year and had a great time. But Ride The Lightning simply has a sense of commitment and uncompromising attitude that is completely missing from their current work. Listen to anything they recorded after 1996 and then this album to hear the difference. Now that's time travel!