Source Code Is A Thrilling Mind-Game

April 7th, 2011

Film: Source Code
Director: Duncan Jones
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan

It’s rare to come across a film that you know can review in four words after seeing it. In the case of Duncan Jones‘ Source Code, “it leaves viewers thinking.”

Whether that be thinking about the performances of Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan, thinking about the concept of controlled time travel or thinking about what you would do with eight minutes left to live- Source Code has enough mind games to arguably be the best film of 2011 so far.

Gyllenhaal is an army pilot named Captain Colter Stevens, who’s assigned a mission that involves stopping the second of a two-part terrorist attack from happening. A Chicago train has already exploded, killing everybody. But authorities are told that a second bomb will go off somewhere in downtown Chicago.

To try and prevent this from happening, Stevens has been selected to test a new program called “Source Code”. It’s a technology that allows a user to be sent into the body of another person, and relive the last eight minutes of their life before they died. In this case, Stevens is to be sent into the body of one of the people on the train, and re-live the last eight minutes of that alternate reality before the train explodes. His mission is simple; if he finds the bomb, he finds the bomber and then hopefully the location of the second attack.

Besides finding the information before the second bomb actually happens in the present reality, Stevens ends up falling for a passenger named Christina (Michelle Monaghan), which makes the mission even more delicate.

Basically, in this unique sci-fi twist of 1993′s Groundhog Day meets 2010′s Inception, Source Code has Gyllenhaal constantly re-living the explosion and judging every passenger on the train to find the bomber in time while also dealing with his own set of morals and ethics.

Most of what the movie has going for it includes the thoughts it provokes after seeing it. The plot itself can be a selling point for the film alone because of its fresh take on sci-fi. And the “Source Code” technology in theory is very interesting -as a concept to prevent terrorism- and the idea of wondering what you would do with eight minutes left to live is also awe-inspiring too. Plus to top it off, the natural performance and star-chemistry between Gyllenhaal and Monaghan compliment the entire film.

The only flaw might be the unanswered questions at the end of the story, or the general concept of the quantum theorem, and how this technology can actually be possible. But if you just leave it be and take it for what it is, Source Code is a welcomed mind-challenging movie and more than enjoyable.

Best Moment(s):

1) “Source Code” technology. Amazing how it has potential to prevent terrorism and other attacks from ever even happening.

2) Russell Peters’ brief role in the film as a smart-alec passenger, who also happens to be a comedian.

Rating:

4/5

Tags: jake gyllenhaal, Movies