Movies Reviews

Source Code – Movie Review

By Anne Brodie Mar 31, 2011, 14:34 GMT

Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes with a jolt to find himself on a commuter train heading into Chicago. Although the other passengers all seem to know him, he has absolutely no idea where, or even who, he is. The last thing Colter remembers is flying a helicopter mission in Iraq, but here he is in someone else\'s life going through someone else\'s morning commute. Before he can do anything, ...more

Duncan Jones proved his stuff directing his phenomenal film Moon and seems his talent is no fluke.  Jones does a remarkable job with Source Code, a story of a military technological experiment that manipulates time, space and matter. 

It’s a complicated premise and at times a bit hard to understand, but it’s worth the extra attention.  It’s smart, intriguing and captivating.

Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up in a wired, sealed tomb, but suddenly finds himself on a Chicago commuter train talking to a woman he seems to know well (Michelle Monaghan).  He begins to see that reality is shifting and panic sets in; she looks at him in disbelief, the train blows up.

Then he’s back in the tomb and then the train wreck.  He is forced to repeat the experience over and over again, apparently controlled by officers he can see outside his enclosure. 

Officer Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) is his sole contact with the world outside.  She tells him he will be sent back to train until he finds a terrorist on board with a bomb and disarms it. But Colter’s torn because he is still living in the tomb reality, wondering if his father knows he’s crashed. 

The layering of realities is entertaining and stimulating, and The Source Code is a program that allows Colter to inhabit another man’s body in the final moments of his own life to save the lives of the commuters. 

He doesn’t have much information to go on and when he’s in the tomb, he refuses to believe the existence of the man on the train, thinking he and his squadron have crashed their plane.  Another level he’s experiencing is as a loyal officer who has somewhat reluctantly agreed to take part in the Source Code experiment. 

As the man on-board the train, Colter is able to gather clues as to the identity of the bomber, using his superior strategic training.  He discovers that a second attack set to take place, tied to the same bomber, this time within the city of Chicago.  And he’s running out of time.

The film moves along at a terrific pace, with constant new twists and psychological developments that in another director’s hands may have been problematic. But Jones has a solid grasp of the subject matter and an audience’ projected reaction.

Part Unstoppable, part Groundhog Day, part Memento, Source Code is at times riveting, a cinematic adventure that suggests the unthinkable, even the future.  If a Source Code were to come into existence, what would the implications be?  Could we choose when we die? What would happen to a manipulated reality?  Would it affect everything?

Technological fantasy is really fun. And Gyllenhaal’s just the guy to convince us it’s really happening.   You can’t doubt that face.  Source Code is a winner but pay attention.

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325mm sci-fi thriller
Written by Ben Ripley
Directed by Duncan Jones
Opens: April 1
Runtime: 93 minutes
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for some violence including disturbing images, and for language
Country: US
Language: English