Fun, worth the price of admission

Rating: Null/10 (24 August 2011)

I was going to warn you about spoilers, but this movie can totally be described without spoiling a thing.
I had no reason to think that Source Code would be any good. Eh, I take that back. Duncan Jones directed and I sure did like Moon a few years back. It wasn't perfect, but seemed thoughtful and well shot. No complaints, just good movie times. Add to that the fact that I had seen Insidious earlier and really a day can't get much lower than that. So I headed to my favorite beer bar then tried out a new Mexican joint. Delicious nachos, 4 beers, and a mojito later, I was back at the crack- head Regal Cinema. I swiped my Regal card and got a free ticket for next time. Excellent.
I settled into a mostly empty theater (oh yes!) and got ready. Buy Coca-Cola, popcorn, and a car, then the trailers. I can't even remember the first one. What I do remember is seeing the dreaded peaked logo and whispering "Nnnnnnoooo" as Summit entertainment popped on the screen. The Beaver? So this is what hitting bottom looks like for Mel Gibson. A few more Summit trailers and it dawned on me – I didn't know anything about this movie but 8 minutes, Duncan Jones, and Jake Gyllenhaal. This is supposed to be a sci-fi, special effects driven movie. Summit can't even get vampires right. Pointy teeth, that's it, and they still can't pull it off.
I was sad and a little angry.
But I soon forgot I was tricked into seeing a Summit production. Technical pseudo time-travel, wormhole, quantum mechanics movies tend in one direction – overly complicated. In theory all of these things are very complicated but you don't need to weigh down a movie by making up analogies to explain concepts that the film makers probably have no understand of to begin with. Source Code was a breath of fresh air in this regard. There was a discovered plot line - we learned more about Gyllenhaal's character a little bit at a time, all the way down to the last minutes of the film. We learn more about the technology that made his time-travel possible to the point that it was fairly obvious what was going on, but not explained enough to create bothersome plot holes. The big reveal wasn't done to shock you, but was part of an incredibly touching sequence that embodied hope, perseverance, and love. Worries over Summit special effects were unwarranted – the story was more of a romance than a big explosion blockbuster.
A word on Jake Gyllenhaal. He was great in October Sky, I laughed at his ridiculous character in The Day After Tomorrow, and after that I felt like he got a bit too big for his britches. When did this guy become a critically acclaimed actor? What could have possessed him to put on a stupid British accent and ruin Prince of Persia? In all fairness, Bruckheimer ruined PoP by twisting the story so much that there was nothing left of the engaging games that inspired the movie. Gyllenhaal really went down on the hate meter with his performance in Source Code. It was subtle, passionate, and injected just a little bit of humor throughout the film.
I forgot about Love and Other Drugs until just now though. Hate meter is reinstated by romping with Clowny Hathaway.
All-in-all, a fun flick that was worth the price of admission. I can't wait to see what Duncan Jones cranks out next!