Offbeat, far fetched tale that does keep a nice air of mystery about it

Rating: Null/10 (10 September 2011)

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning
Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) awakens to find himself on a commuter train, opposite a woman named Christina (Michelle Monaghan) who claims to know him well, but who he can't remember. Shortly after, the train explodes, killing everyone on board except Colter, who wakes in a pod like chamber where he appears to be under the control of a mysterious organisation. He learns he is virtually brain dead, but the small part of his brain that's still alive (like the inside of a light bulb after it's been switched off) is being used to go back in time and stop a terrorist attack taking place.
It seems if Hollywood isn't relying these days on resurrecting old franchises with a loyal fan base to make easy money, it's throwing up the most obscure, far fetched ideas to a modern audience that probably likes to challenge itself, with films such as Inception and this rather less complicated but still far flung and vaguely nonsensical tale that is all too much to take in at first glance.
Still, it pays to stick with it, since it does generate an air of mystery and even a bit of suspense as it goes on, even if some of the character motivations do seem as slightly ridiculous as the story itself. You could be more critical and call it an absolute nonsense, but it's just too intelligently done to fall under this category. And despite lacking in humour through out, there is an optimistic, happy ending that results in quite a nice pay off. It would just be nice if Hollywood films weren't aiming for quite so much of the grey matter these days. ***