Source Code - 'or should that be Object Code'

Rating: Null/10 (2 April 2011)

For a while now, sci-fi has been home to films about faceless alien invasions and empty space battles. "Why is it so bad?" I hear you scream. Surely the rich volume of scientific knowledge available (that would be the 'sci' part of the film type) and the ease at which this could be blended into a fictitious event (need I say 'fi') should make the genre an interesting and entertaining library of films. However, where many fail is in the fact that they seem to think that the audience demands special effects and burning cities, in which doing so loses most of a film's charm and half the story, unless you have Will Smith to battle those bad-ass aliens! I guess what I'm trying to get at is that it is the people themselves in the story that provide the best entertainment and emotional connection.
A director who has been able to bring us out of this rut and back towards the light is Duncan Jones. In 2009, he gave us his directorial debut, 'Moon.' A brilliantly eerie look at a a lonely man's life in isolation on a moon base. Now, two years later, 2011, and Jones is back with 'Source Code,' his next film.
Source code opens with Shaun (Jake Gyllenhaal) jolting awake on a busy commuter train heading towards Chicago. He has no idea where he is, or even who he is, with the woman sitting opposite him, Christina (Michelle Monaghan), calling him Shaun, although he doesn't seem to know who Shaun is. He tells her his name is Captain Colter Stevens and that he has no idea who she or Shaun is. Even stranger is that the last Colter/Shaun remembers is that he was on a flying mission in Iraq. Finding himself seemingly trapped within another person's life, Colter barely has enough time to gather his wits before the train explodes, killing everyone on board.
Where Source Code gets far more interesting than just an exploding train is that Colter wakes after the explosion. He isn't dead, instead finding himself confined to a seat inside an isolation chamber, wearing his flight military uniform. Still having no idea what is going on, he is contacted through a television screen by the mission controller, Carol Goodwin (Vera Farmiga.) It turns out that Colter is part of a science experiment in which he is able to re-live the last eight minutes of someone else's life. The train attack happened previously that morning and using the last eight minutes of Shaun's memory, Colter needs to find out who bombed the train so that they can prevent a future attack.
What follows for the next twenty minutes is Groundhog Day on an exploding train but seemingly different in that each time Colter goes back something is different, leading him to believe he can change the course of events. We learn the parameters of the 'Source Code' technology, where Colter is in fact being contained before each eight- minute burst and more about the passengers on the train. However, where Source Code truly becomes something special is in the second half of the film. A huge plot twist leaves you feeling as if the film has given its best too soon. Although as Jones showed in Moon, even once the true situation is revealed, what happens afterwards is far more intriguing and leaves the story open to pave its own way.
The acting is terrific on all fronts and the shots and dialogue flow without anything feeling clunky, creating a film in which its pace never slacks and its scenes never feel irrelevant or boring. To me, it almost felt like one of those films that could have been filmed in an afternoon, which I see as being a success when it comes down to make up, continuity and tone.
There is a Moon reference that some will appreciate in the form of Christina's mobile ringtone, and a splash of humour throughout prevents those not able to follow the science mumbo-jumbo to still enjoy the show. So, without giving any spoilers away, it is quite hard to examine the rest of the film apart from the ending, as much of a contradiction as those words might seem. This is because I always find that most films seem to get a bit strange towards the end. Either the writers ran out of coffee/money and feel as though things need wrapping up fast or it drags on too long because nobody wants to commit to ending the film on one particular note. However, Source Code, in my opinion, had a great ending in comparison to a lot of films. Not only does it hit on an emotional level but it also demonstrates how involved the viewer has become with the story, which is something that is always hard to achieve, especially in action. The finale is then topped off with a clever and stylish closing scene in which all the answers are in your hands only you get to spend the journey home thinking it through before it all connects.
My only gripe would be with the film title, though it is a bit pedantic. It should be noted that 'Source Code' is the written programming code, whilst 'Object Code' is the compiled output, ready for execution. Though, seriously, would you have ever taken a film called 'Object Code' seriously?
Re-cap: one of the best sci-fi films I've recently seen; ignore your Battle L.As and Skylines, old-school sci-fi is back and expect big things from Duncan Jones in the future.
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