Source Code

[Magellan]

Sci-fi isn't particularly my favorite genre, but I caught this movie last week and I think its definitely worth checking out.

Source Code Review

This is honestly the first movie of 2011 that I can actually call good rather than enjoyable (e.g. The Green Hornet, No Strings Attached). It has its flaws (fortunately, nothing big enough leave a bad taste in your mouth), but for the most part it’s a good movie coming from Duncan Jones after his directorial debut Moon which came out two years ago. Source Code stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Colter Stevens a man sent back to relive the last eight minutes of a man’s life in order to find out who bombed the train that killed that same man and about 100 passengers including the woman sitting across from him (Michelle Monaghan).

Of course he has no idea how he ended up with this mission and he slowly asks questions about his fate, while his superiors struggle to keep him focused on the assignment. Back in his reality he spends most of the time talking with Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) who tries to keep him on task, but slowly starts to sympathize with the fact that he has no idea how he ended up with this assignment. Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright) is the creator of Source Code and mainly sees Steven as a tool to use to get his project going. Wright gives this character so unnecessary quirks, but at the same time it’s these quirks that are what makes this character so memorable.

He’s eventually given the full details of this mission, and eventually starts looking for the bomber. His first attempts don’t exactly go well and he does make a few brash decisions that will leave you scratching your head (he seems to be fond of punching people in the face). I’d like to give props to the screenwriter for actually having Monaghan’s character comment on racial profiling once a character of Middle Eastern descent shows up, but I’m curious as to why he still had Stevens follow him and eventually attack him.

You might think having to see the same scenes over and over again play differently is a bit tedious, but the filmmakers know better and use it to at times to give the movie some of its best comedic moments. They also know when to fast forward because eventually you’re not going to want to hear Michelle Monaghan say “I took your advice, it was great advice” again.

Movies with the ‘stop the disaster’ plots usually suffer from having a lack of a climax, but unlike Unstoppable, you’ll actually get to see the train blow up several times, so its all good for you action junkies. It’s a bit of a mystery, and eventually everything is explained to you, unfortunately the movie did go on about 5 minutes too long (you’ll know exactly where it should’ve ended) and expanded a bit too much on what Source Code can actually do. Yes, the concept of Source Code doesn’t make any sense whatsoever, but the plot still keeps you engaged and characters are interesting enough to help you get over that fact.

A smarter than average pop-corn flick. 3/4

[Bright]

It's a good movie. It's not even in the same league as Moon, but still fairly enjoyable. Several things about it bugged me, but I can't call any of them outright flaws either.

[Cykeisme]

Source Code stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Colter Stevens a man sent back to relive the last eight minutes of a man’s life in order to find out who bombed the train that killed that same man and about 100 passengers including the woman sitting across from him

Just to confirm.. he's projected into the past (or a a simulation of the past somehow re-created down to atomic detail or something), and he can re-do that last 8 minutes leading up to the bombing, for purposes of gathering investigative information, and he can re-do it again and again, each subsequent time armed with the knowledge from previous forays?

The movie sounds fascinating, if that's the case.

[Magellan]

Yeah, I realized that I forgot to mention he can re-try if he fails in the sentence. Can't edit after a certain amount of time. But yeah it plays out exactly the way you described. Source Code isn't exactly time travel. I forgot how Rutledge explained it in the film.