Source Code Review

“Source Code”
Release Date: 04/01/2011
Directed by: Duncan Jones
Screenplay by: Ben Ripley
Rated PG-13 for some violence including disturbing images, and for language.
Review by: Sean Kayden

Hurray! Hurray! After coming off a few less-than-stellar outings, Jake Gyllenhaal is back in the game with an irrefutable winning effort in “Source Code”. Additionally, director Duncan Jones’ (son of David Bowie) sophomore film proves that he himself is the real deal. His 2009 low budget sci-fi flick, “Moon” almost cracked my top 10 and utterly took me by surprise. I’m not the biggest sci-fi devotee, but Duncan Jones is a special kind of storyteller/filmmaker. Ben Ripley, a relatively unknown screenwriter with a few direct-to-DVD writing credits, wrote this brilliantly executed screenplay. It’s wonderful to see original ideas come into fruition on the big screen. We desperately need more movies like this and less sequels, remakes, and comic book adaptations. I really have to tip my hat to the independent studio Summit Entertainment for taking a chance with a fresh and invigorating concept from an anonymous screenwriter and a director with only one film under his belt.

“Source Code” grabs you right from the start. Jake Gyllenhaal portrays Captain Colter Stevens, a decorated pilot who awakens in the body of a man called Sean Fentress inside a train in Chicago. While on the train, he meets a woman named Christina (characterized by the captivating Michelle Monaghan). However, before he can understand what is occurring, a bomb goes off and destroys the train. After the explosion, Stevens finds himself in a capsule chamber greeted by Colleen Goodwin (the always superb Vera Farmiga) from a computer screen. Bewildered to why he’s located here, she informs him that he’s taken part in a scientific program that allows him to take over someone's body in his or her last eight minutes of life. It is then revealed that earlier that day, a bomb exploded and destroyed a train in Chicago. Goodwin notifies Stevens that is primary mission is to locate the bomb and discover who created it before another nuclear bomb detonates somewhere in Chicago. As he continues to oblige to his orders, Stevens starts to believe he can prevent the initial bombing from actually taking place. Source Code’s inventor, Dr. Rutledge (ferociously represented by Jeffrey Wright), sheds some light about the experiment. He notifies Captain Stevens that the Source Code is merely a simulation and that he cannot alter the past. Stevens strongly believes he can and his motives for trying to become apparent, as he grows fondly attached to Christina. However, Rutledge makes it painfully clear that he has one mission and one mission only. So Stevens is then transported back on to the train over and over again until he discovers the culprit behind the terrorist attack. One may perceive the repetitiveness of being sent back and forth onto the train to be tedious and boring, but that’s not the case in the slightest form. As we head into the second and third act of the film, more and more surprises begin to unravel. Source Code will undoubtedly keep you completely mesmerized from beginning to end. A true keep-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat thriller that does more than just provides you a quick thrill or two.

Provided with a quartet of strong performances from Gyllenhaal, Monaghan, Farmiga and Wright, a dynamic screenplay and faultless direction, “Source Code” is easily thus far my favorite movie of 2011. This is Jake Gyllenhaal most electrifying performance to date. For me personally, it puts him in a whole new category. The ending may spark some controversy with the most devoted sci-fi fans. I honestly thought the film was going to end at a particular point, but it carried on for another five to seven minutes. Personally, I was still fully satisfied by it. I felt that the extended ending brought a whole new element and meaning to the movie. “Source Code” has a bit of an Inception feel to it, but definitely more restrained and less convoluted. This is an innovative, outrageously compelling, and thought-provoking film with plenty of heart and soul to boot. It’s the reason why we go to the theater and if more movies like Source Code can be developed, then mainstream Hollywood may not be a complete wash after all.

Grade: 4.5 out of 5

Published on April 9, 2011 by Mountain Views News.
http://mtnviewsnews.com/v05/htm/n15/p11.htm