Review of Source Code (2011) by Lennycrist — 21 Apr 2011

Based on what I've read, I don't think most people, including reviewers, understood this movie. The ending makes it clear that Gyllenhaal is spawning parallel universes when he enters the source code, that another version of him had done it before the action in the movie, and another version of him will do it again in the new universe spawned by the action at the end of the movie when he finally succeeds.

The ending heavily implies that a version of him from before the movie starts had told Vera Farmiga to tell him everything's going to be alright, just as he, in the new universe, at the end of the movie, tells her to tell tell him (the injured soldier) everything will be alright.

This reading of the movie clears up almost all of the inconsistencies that others have pointed out. The only one that remains for me is the Quantum Leap quandary. What happens to the guy Gyllanhaal is inhabiting in that final successful attempt, since Gyllanhaal doesn't ever leave his body.

In Quantum Leap, the guy leaped into Sam's body back in the future, but when the leap was over, he returned to his original body. Here, the leap seemingly doesn't end. So what becomes of his consciousness? Is he just snuffed out? That doesn't seem very moral in a movie that ends on such an uplifting note.

Still, a solid movie that mixed a variety of references (Quantum Leap, Groundhog Day, Avatar) rather well. Duncan Jones is a director to look out for.