The first thing that came to mind when I saw the title was: is this going to be another sci-fi thriller that can either be just another movie with a simple plot or could it actually be something unique in the sense that carries me through the film? Which category did The Source Code fit in?
Directed by Duncan Jones, who also directed one of the most underestimated films called Moon, it caught my interest what he could do with a film with a bigger budget. Right away when the film begins, I drew my attention and I couldn’t stop watching this film until the end.
The movie begins with an Air Force Pilot named Colter Stevens played by Jake Gyllenhall (Donnie Darko, Prince of Persia) wakes up on a train heading to Chicago. He immediately is confused and lost like us the audience is as well. He comes to find out that he is in another body and then 8 minutes later the train blows up and he is stuck in a Pod with a camera to a secret government agency. The agency was having him go into a fragment of the memories of a terrorist attack on a train that could grant them access on who is behind the attack and how to stop from future attacks.
Within the travels back and forth on figuring out the plot and what why he was chosen, he develops a relationship with a girl named Christina played by Michelle Monaghan (Due Date, Gone Baby Gone). When adding a love interest in a film can make it cheesy or make it a success. In this case, it works, and it actually gives the movie an incentive to continue on. Monaghan does a great job playing a character who we don’t know too much about.
Vera Farmiga plays Sergeant Colleen Goodwin (Up in the Air, The Departed) who is the intermediary between the secret government and Colter Stevens. She has to decide whether or not help Gyllenhall’s character throughout. While going through the mystery of who planted the bomb, Colter is looking for answers to questions like, what is the truth of the secret agency, how did he get here in this Pod being used, and why was he being transported back and forth into this memory “source code.”
Now, the logic behind the source code was confusing, but intelligently the writers of the film only explained enough that we can understand the theory, and just trust that the rest will work in its place. I can’t believe I am saying this, but the one hand up that Source Code had on Inception, is that there was a valid purpose of why we are following Gyllenhall on this sci-fi event versus a guy stealing ideas out of one’s brain to buy his way to his kids. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Inception, but Source Code gave that greater purpose sometimes needed by an audience, the purpose that the technology can be used for the greater good. It does a great job of this without disclosing the controversial explanation being used.
What didn’t work in the film is the last 10 minutes. All I am going to say is that the film tried to take it a step further than it needed. It tried to overdo and top what the film was portraying in the first hour and a half. When that happens in a film, it can almost destroy the quality of the work of the whole film. Luckily in the case of Source Code, that wasn’t the case.
Was this film one to see? It will capture you in the film from the beginning till the end. Don’t be too skeptical when seeing it, and get your popcorn, your soda and enjoy the ride!
Grade: B
If you liked this film, I recommend:
Moon
Ground Hog’s Day
Inception