Also official: Its fervent embrace by all the emo teenagers whose previous hobbies consisted only of cutting helped us to forget that writer/director Richard Kellys debut was a pretty damn good film.
20th Century Foxs re-release in a 10th Anniversary Edition make this crystal-clear. The four-disc set gives you the movie as a Blu-ray, a DVD and a digital copy, so you can enjoy its imaginary rabbit and doomsday prophecies on the go. As previously released, the DVDs include a slew of extras, including a music video of Gary Jules haunting, slowed-down cover of Tears for Fears Mad World; a slightly annoying featurette on Darkos slightly more annoying superfans; and complete cuts of the purposely horrendous Cunning Visions infomercials seen briefly during the film, and with hilarious commentary that treats the video pieces as if they were real.
Ah, yes, and the movie. The Blu-ray includes the marvelous mind-bender in its original recipe and Kellys extra-crispy cut, which incorporates 21 more minutes of footage for true devotees, but does little, if anything, to change ones appreciation for the film. His commentary might enhance it, if he werent sharing the microphone with noooooooo! Kevin Smith.
As Donnie, Jake Gyllenhaal had one of his two or three best roles in a career that now numbers 20 years, and hes only climbed higher as a result. Sadly, creator Kelly hasnt anywhere approached the heights of his first time at bat. Five years after Darko, his long-awaited, long-delayed follow-up, Southland Tales, tanked, as did 2009s long-awaited, long-delayed The Box. Perhaps in a tangent universe, things are different for someone so obviously gifted. Rod Lott