Review of Source Code (2011) by Ludders1979 — 16 Aug 2011

Source Code, the second movie from Duncan Jones, the man who bought us the sleeper hit Moon in 2009, and now with an increased budget, and not to mention larger cast, he brings us this stylish and fast-paced sci fi thriller, and what a joyride it is.

The story begins with army helicopter pilot Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) who was last time he remembered in Afghanistan, awakening on a commuter train bound for Chicago. He's accompanied by Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan) but he soon discovers all is not as it seems when he finds out he's inhabiting the body of Sean Fentress, a school teacher who regularly travels this route. Before he has time to work out what's going on, the train explodes, killing him and everyone else on board. He awakens to find he is an unwilling participant in a project called 'Source Code' and that he is accessing the last eight minutes of a person's life in an alternate timeline. The operator, Captain Colleen Goodwin, explains that there has been a terrorist attack on the commuter train he was travelling on, and now he must go back again and again until he can identify the bomber and find out his next target.

But, like all good thrillers, all is not as it seems, Colter soon finds out his mission takes a very personal turn when using his eight minute windows in the alternate timeline, he begins to investigate his own life as well and how he came to be part of the Source Code project.

The movie plays something like Groundhog Day meets Inception meets Jason Bourne. Jones throws you in hard and fast, giving you little time to find yourself before you're dragged along for the ride, probably as confused as Gyllenhaal as to what's going on initially, but by the time the first act closes, you'll be hooked.

The script, from Ben Ripley, a relative newcomer whose previous credits include two films in the Species franchise, is well-constructed and rounded, each plot point is placed at the correct intervals and the script is clever, but at the same time neither does it try and intentionally confuse you for confusions sake. Ripley explores the theories of alternate timelines and quantum mechanics in small digestible bites that doesn't drag the script down with too much scientific explanation explaining the concepts behind the story.

Considering this is only Jones' second feature he knocks the ball right out of the park. With Moon, Jones was able to tell a high-tension tale with what was essentially a one-man show from Sam Rockwell, and in a way he does the same here, considering that nearly the entire film is based around the same eight minutes of time, Jones explores every angle the story can take, pushing Gyllenhaal this way and that and balancing the action inside of the Source Code machine with the character development-driven period in the 'real' world. What should also be admired is that the budget for this movie, whilst $32 million isn't high for a science-fiction movie, Jones manages to make this film look and feel like something that costs five times more. Jones is definitely a talent to watch.

Overall, Source Code is an entertaining thriller that leaves you thinkng about te aspects of it long after the credits have rolled, it will certainly be worth repeat viewings and is worth every word of praise passed its way.