For a film that will keep you thinking for days, try rentingDonnie Darko, a 2001 release starring Jake Gyllenhaal.

The time-bending film also features Drew Barrymore, Noah Wylie,and Patrick Swayze in a story about Donnie Darko, an averageteenaged suburbanite kid.

On a typical evening, the Darko family heads to bed, a few hourslater a 2,000 pound jet engine crashes into Donnie’s bedroomtotally destroying everything in its path. However, a mysteriousforce has drawn Donnie from his bed and saved his life.

Throughout the rest of the film Donnie will be mystified by anddrawn to this force and in the process discover himself, love, andhis ability to alter his own destiny.

This movie is, at it’s base a story about a suburban kid tryingto find himself, but it brings other elements including sci-fi timetravel, young love, cosmic fate and fairy-tale heroics into a talethat will keep viewers close to the television screen.

Gyllenahaal provides a creepy and fascinating Donnie, the maincharacter in this dark drama. Wylie and Barrymore providebelievable backup roles and Swayze makes a creepy televangelistcharacter preaching love over fear, but hiding a twistedsecret.

Donnie Darko will surprise its audience and give everyone whosees it something to think about. In the film, Donnie will discoverthat his every action will tip the cosmos toward life or death.

The film’s message is open to personal interpretation, andbecause of that, you may want to watch it a second and third time,immediately after finishing it. The good news is that it’s alreadyreleased on video, so check it out over spring break and do alittle thinking outside of class.