Review of Source Code (2011) by Mikael K — 09 Jul 2013

Duncan Jones demonstrated an ability for making highly captivating, intense and artistically accomplished cinema out of very minimalist ingredients with "Moon," an independent science fiction drama starring only Sam Rockwell as a lone guardian of a moon base sometime in the future.

Jones makes a return with "Source Code," a bigger production starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Vera Farmiga and Michelle Monaghan. His story is still rather constrained, due to the clever premise of this sci-fi thriller. The movie basically plays the same fifteen or so minutes over and over. The idea is that Gyllenhaal's character Colter revisits one point in history time and again, trying to figure out what caused a train explosion. Each time he discovers something new, each time it all goes a little bit different.

The plot might have easily fallen victim to its high concept, but screenwriter Ben Ripley manages to both keep all the ideas together and get great drama out of his characters. Jones raises to the potential of the script and directs in an innovative manner, letting the actors do very convincing work.

This film raises your pulse with its rhythm but it also keeps you thinking, mostly about the characters and their motives but also about bigger, societal questions. Not quite as original or compelling as "Moon" "Source Code" is a Hollywood sci-fi thriller with rare intelligence and vision.