Donnie (Steve Burington) is an emotionally stunted young man who lives in a shack behind an old lady's house. As she warns a family friend: "Be careful how you move with Donnie. He becomes easily frightened of any sudden movement. And never, never raise your voice to him or he might become violent." Donnie eventually finds love when he meets the gimpy Jenny (Jessica Straus), but things get crazy after some bullies taunt him and Donnie visits his alcoholic mother.
I came to Milligan late in life and I believe this is the fifth film of his I've seen. Like Donnie, his films are truly special. The first hour of this is pretty much a solid drama, but not without laughs like the three muscle-bound bullies (one being culturally confused as he sports a big Rebel flag on the back of his jacket in California) or laughable dialogue delivered in the worst possible way. My favorite is when a priest is trying to warn Jenny about Donnie and we get this exchange.
Jenny: My mother and father died in an automobile accident when I was very young. I was lucky. I was asleep in the backseat. They were killed instantly. The doctor said that my spine was permanently injured and I would never walk again. But I worked very hard and now I'm able to walk.
Priest: I know. And you walk very well.
Of course, things pick up in the final half hour when Donnie finally snaps. His encounter with his mother is one for the ages and ends with a sequence that had me dying. It looks like Milligan wanted to make more Donnie exploits given the title and open ending, but we sadly never got them.
