Potentially Intriguing Turns Into Predictable Propaganda

Rating: 2/10 (6 July 2013)

This movie could have been far more satisfying. You have to suspend your sense of logic, as you do in most sci-fi movies, to accept the premise that a dead soldier can be transported into the body of another man about to be blown up on a train. One question that is never addressed is; where did this man's soul, his personality, go during those eight minutes when Jake Gyllenhaal's character took over his body?
Gyllenhaal is okay in the lead role, but how he can be sold as a sex symbol is beyond me. Those huge, bug eyes of his alone should turn off a lot of people. The lovely Vera Farmiga is excellent here, as always, but it's a thankless role and she isn't given much to do. Michelle Monaghan's character seems shallow and isn't developed at all (actually, none of the characters are developed whatsoever and come off as empty shells).
The movie trots out two of its favorite, stereotypical casting devices; the head of the super secret project is one of those incredible black computer geniuses, which are usually played by Morgan Freeman. In any event, they are plentiful in Hollywood. And the bad guy, the lone "nut" terrorist who is singlehandedly holding the country hostage, is a dumpy, very innocent looking white male. Wow- didn't see that one coming! Does the movie industry really think no one notices this kind of stuff?
The movie borrows heavily from "Groundhog Day" and other superior films, but the premise was interesting enough that, with a little more creative thought, and a better lead actor, it could have been much better.