Muddled time travel oddity

Rating: 5/10 (25 April 2012)

A bit of a strange one, this. From the premise and trailer it looked like just the sort of film that's up my street: a tense thriller utilising time travel in a more inventive way than most, packed with explosive action and a race-against-the-clock countdown. Having just watched it, I'm not entirely sure what to make of it all.
For a start, despite the best efforts of the cast members, it's not the emotionally involving thriller that I was hoping. Gyllenhaal's soldier, despite some pretty hefty emotional moments, just didn't grab my sympathies as a leading man. Michelle Monaghan, as the train passenger he begins to develop feelings for, is bland, as if the romantic element is there just for the sake of it and the scriptwriter couldn't do anything apart from make her a one-dimensional figure for Gyllenhaal to fall in love with.
Decent supporting actors, like Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright, are underused in stock roles. The action on the train is well directed by Duncan Jones, but the fact that Gyllenhaal can keep returning over and over saps the movie of impact and makes it all feel artificial; it looks great but is hollow inside. When Gyllenhaal believes that it's all a simulator early on, you're inclined to agree with him. The eventual reveal of the villain is underwhelming and, even worse, the time travel elements of the script become disjointed and muddled so that in the end, after the umpteenth twist, you feel entirely disassociated from the movie. To my mind, Denzel Washington's DEJA VU covers a similar premise to much better effect.