SOURCE CODE
Summit Entertainment
Directed by: Duncan Jones
Cast: Jake Gyllenhall, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright.
Studio Synopsis:
A helicopter pilot recruited for a top-secret military operation finds himself on a startlingly different kind of mission in Source Code, a smart, fast-paced action thriller that challenges our assumptions about time and space. Filled with mind-boggling twists and heart-pounding suspense, Source Code is directed by Duncan Jones (Moon).
Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) awakens on a speeding commuter train with no idea how he got there. Seated across from him is Christina (Michelle Monaghan), a woman he doesn’t know, but who clearly believes she knows him. Seeking refuge in the bathroom, he’s shocked to see another man’s reflection in the mirror and ID cards in his wallet belonging to schoolteacher Sean Fentress. Suddenly a massive explosion rips through the train.
Almost instantly, Colter is transported to a high-tech isolation unit where a uniformed woman named Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) demands to know everything he saw. Colter has been on a high-priority mission to identify a bomber who destroyed a train just hours earlier and who plans to kill thousands more with a much larger explosion in the heart of Chicago. A top-secret program, codenamed Source Code, allows Colter to exist briefly as Sean in the parallel reality of the doomed commuter train.
Each time he returns to the train, Colter has just eight minutes to uncover the bomber’s identity. He gathers new bits of evidence each time, but his quarry eludes him. The more he learns, the more convinced he becomes that he can prevent the deadly blast from ever happening—unless time runs out first.
Source Code is directed by Duncan Jones (Moon) from a screenplay by Ben Ripley (Species III). It stars Jake Gyllenhaal (Brothers, Brokeback Mountain), Michelle Monaghan (Eagle Eye, Gone Baby Gone), Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air, The Departed) and Jeffrey Wright (Quantum of Solace, Syriana). Producers are Mark Morgan (Twilight, The Wedding Planner), Philippe Rousselet (Lord of War) and Jordan Wynn. Director of photography is Don Burgess (Forrest Gump). Production designer is Barry Chusid (2012). Editor is Paul Hirsch (Mission: Impossible). Costume designer is Renée April. Co-producers are Stuart Fenegan (Moon) and Tracy Underwood (White Oleander). Executive producers are Jeb Brody (Little Miss Sunshine), Fabrice Gianfermi (Lord of War) and Hawk Koch (Untraceable).
J.P.’s Take:
Well-made sci-fi films are a rarity these days, and I’ve watched many in my lifetime. “Source Code” is that rare gem that stimulates the mind, but treats the genre in a simple, intriguing way.
The opening is shrouded in mystery as Air Force Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up on a train, not knowing who he is or why he’s there in the first place. Even more mind bending is the fact that Stevens is reliving a tragic event, through the consciousness of a different person. He experiences flashbacks of a life not his own, but as the life of Sean Fentress, a passenger who was killed in an explosion aboard that train he is on. Furthermore, Stevens wakes up yet again, finding himself suddenly strapped into a capsule, which enables him to travel through time ~ 8 minutes before the explosion to be exact. Somewhere in the middle of all of this, there is a tidy explanation on quantum mechanics recited by Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright), who suavely banters about the inner workings of time travel. The concept of the story brings me to an interesting point — this film feels more complex than it actually is.
The cinematic world is already filled with sci-fi flicks with confusing plot lines and dazzling effects, but where “Source Code” differs is in its down to Earth approach. It doesn’t waste time with scientific mumbo jumbo, but instead plays out on an emotional level.
From the beginning, I became enveloped by Captain Stevens’s world of confusion. Each time Gyllenhaal’s character woke from his 8-minute nightmare to learn that the passengers aboard the commuter train had all died after an explosion, his situation became more poignant. He also learns of his mission governed by military scientist Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) to track down a cold hearted terrorist. Guided by Goodwin, Stevens must return to the agonizing moment several times to pick up more clues. His many trips to the other life weighs heavily on Stevens, for which he witnesses those deaths time and again.
Trapped like a lab rat, his life inside the hidden capsule also starts to take its toll. Similar to a soldier going off to war and watches his fellow soldiers die in battle, Colter experiences something like post traumatic stress syndrome. It’s those kinds of human connections that allow this film to translate to into the real world. Just the very idea of knowing that lives are being stripped away senselessly creates a heart breaking atmosphere.
Amid the catastrophe, however, a romance stokes up between Stevens and a young woman he met on the train named Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan). This moment makes for a nice break in all the grimness.
Jake Gyllenhaal receives kudos from me for his portrayal of the Air Force Captain. I liked his gritty, stressed reactions to the dire situation placed on him. I also give great credit to the entire cast, who all played integral rolls, which made this movie believable.
Thanks to director Duncan Jones (“Moon”) and writer Ben Ripley (“Species 3”) for packing this little thriller with a nice balance of laughter, poignancy and tenseness…and even romance to break up the somber tone. I simply enjoyed every minute of it, and I think these types of movies could help revitalize the science fiction world greatly.
”Source Code” is definitely worth while and a must see.