Flawed but still pretty nifty science fiction thriller

Rating: 7/10 (22 April 2011)

A man comes to on a morning train. An unfamiliar train, and he's wearing somebody else's body. Confused, he tries to get his bearings but 8 minutes later a bomb blast takes out train and everyone on it. After a strange interlude, our man is back on that same train, back where he started with a mission to save the future. Yep, this is one of those time loopy science fiction thriller joints, but for a film with such hoary gimmick its actually rather decent stuff. It has problems, but first off here are the things that really work. Jake Gyllenhaal pulls off a great turn as the confused hero, his movement from perplexity to fragmented understanding and frustration, gradually into ultimate determination is the driving force of the film above and beyond the plot and e convinces every step of the way. Michelle Monaghan is a fine love interest/foil, sweet natured and pretty with the right flashes of shock and confusion at things going down beyond her comprehension. Jeffrey Wright is similarly fine as a secretive, gently amoral scientist, whilst Vera Farmiga is fairly convincing in a slightly underwritten sympathetic military role. The other big plus to the film is its tightness and measure of real excitement. Flashy effects work is largely eschewed in favor of clock ticking suspense and physical rough and tumble, also writing is tight and the viewer is placed in the same position as the hero, without flashbacks or extraneous character detailing we find out everything alongside him as the film progresses, maintaining a fair sense of mystery and making for the odd decent twist. The tightness of the thriller structure and its execution actually lead into the films problems though. At the centre is a piece of science fiction gimmickry explained with analogies and some one six fits all quantum physics jargon. It works just about well enough to hold things together, but it doesn't stand up to scrutiny and in the end hurts the film, as the final (seemingly tacked on) sequence is rather jarring. The suspect explanation also meshes with the structure to bring down the films potential as thoughtful science fiction, it is mildly thought provoking but doesn't really go anywhere with its mind expanding possibilities, nor the moral and existential questions that arise during the course of the film. I guess one is not really supposed to question a film in this way, being that it is after all a thriller and not some piece of "hard" science fiction, but when the potential is clearly there its hard not to be a little ticked off when it isn't realised. Still, by and large I had a fine time with this one on a basic entertainment level, I'll give it a generous 7/10.