Mania Grade: B
8 Comments | Add
Rate & Share:
Related Links:
Info:
- Blu-ray: Source Code
- Rating: PG-13
- Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga
- Written By: Ben Ripley
- Directed By: Duncan Jones
- Distributor: Summit Entertainment
- Original Year of Release: 2011
- Extras: See Below
- Series:
Source Code Blu-ray Review
Look for bomber, blow up, repeat By
Tim Janson
July 28, 2011
Jake Gyllenhaal in Source Code
© Summit Entertainment
You only have eight minutes to live…but you get to do those eight minutes over and over again. Such is Jake Gyllenhaal’s plight in Source Code, a Sci-Fi thriller built on voodoo technology. Jake’s character, Colter Stevens, an Army helicopter pilot awakes on a train bound for downtown Chicago . Only trouble is he isn’t himself…literally. In the mirror he sees the face of another fan who he learns is Sean Fentress, a teacher who rides the train everyday and has become friends with another passenger named Christina (Monaghan). Eight minutes into the trip the train explodes and Stevens awakes to find himself trapped inside a small chamber and communicating with Air Force Captain Colleen Goodwin (Farmiga) via a small monitor.
Stevens is informed that he is part of a project known as Source Code that allows him to take over another person’s body during their last 8 minutes of life. Stevens is told that he has to repeat those 8 minutes over and over, investigating his fellow passengers until he can find out who the bomber is in order to prevent a second and more deadly blast in the city. Colter tries to piece together the fragments of his memory and his last mission in Afghanistan even as Goodwin implores him to stay focused on the mission of finding the bomber.
In Groundhog Day like repetition, Stevens quickly is able to fast forward through events on the train, knowing what’s coming before it happens as he has already lived it several times. Each time he tries a different tactic to track down the bomber. These sometimes end in rather clumsy and epic failures leading to Stevens becoming more and more frustrated. Stevens becomes not only determined to stop the second bombing, but also to prevent the first bombing despite being told its not possible, all the while trying to find out what really happened to him after his last mission.
Source Code is part Sci-Fi and part murder mystery with a dose of Twilight Zone irony tossed into the mix. Peel it down to the core and it’s like one of those old murder mysteries in a dark, gloomy mansion where the suspects are all gathered and you have to figure out “who done it.” The difference being that those films end up with far more simplistic and less confounding plots. The whole time-travel, alternate reality spin would unravel into silliness if the characters were not as compelling as they are. Thankfully Director Duncan Jones doesn’t loiter too much into the mechanics of the science involved and instead concentrates on the thriller aspect of the film. For Gyllenhaal, it’s his best performance since 2005’s Jarhead and perhaps even since Donnie Darko. You feel genuine sympathy for his character, especially when you find out what really happened to him. You can’t help but root for him to succeed.
Monaghan and Farmiga provide two subtle yet strong female co-leads. Duncan skillfully wraps up the entire affair which not only gives audiences the “feel good” ending they crave, but also finds a way to gracefully back out of the technical minutiae in a completely coherent way. This is one of those small films that utilize only a handful of sets and with a moderate budget of just $32 million it provided a large return on the investment. Source Code is an exciting ride that grabs hold of you at the opening and doesn’t let go.
Blu-Ray Extras
Pickings are a bit slim on the extras unfortunately. The disc comes with an audio commentary track with Director Duncan Jones, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Writer Ben Ripley.
Access: Source Code – This is a picture-in-picture option that allows you to watch the film pop-up bits of content. These include things like interviews with cast and crew, commentary from theoretical physics expert Sergei Gukov, and other pieces of trivia relating to time travel and alternate realities that help give the film a little more steady scientific footing
LOGIN
REGISTER
RSS
HOME
Great movie. I thought the premis was stupid but gave it a chance and really enjoyed it. I like the paradox the whole story creates as well.