A moderately entertaining sci-fi thriller that slowly unravels under an absurd plot

Rating: 6/10 (7 April 2011)

NOTE: This review contains basic spoilers, but no plot specifics beyond the first 30 minutes. I discuss the ending in a very general way and only in the last three paragraphs.
After watching Moon, I had relatively high expectations for Source Code. The film's premise is fairly preposterous, but I was willing to give it a chance because of the video game-like idea of re-living a short period of time over and over. The general concept had been mined before to great comedic success in Groundhog Day, but is well-suited for an action/sci-fi/thriller.
The basic plot is that a terrorist has bombed a commuter train outside Chicago, killing hundreds. The military believes that the bomber plans to kill millions more. To avert disaster, they utilize a mysterious invention called the "Source Code." The logic behind the Source Code system is where the movie gets a little too ambitious (or lazy, depending on your view) with its pseudo-scientific justifications. Suffice it to say that this invention allows handsome Army Captain Colter Stevens (played with convincing bewilderment by Jake Gyllenhaal) to essentially take the place of a passenger on the bombed train right before the explosion. Stevens must relive the last eight minutes before the bombing again and again until he can find the bomb and the terrorist's identity.
Gyllenhaal pulls off an effective and dynamic performance, especially given the inherently repetitive nature of the plot. His initial confusion is a useful device to ease viewers into the film's intentionally mysterious circumstances, while also driving the suspense of wanting to know what the hell is REALLY happening. His growing comfort with the "virtual" nature of the Source Code provides a surprisingly hefty dose of comic relief and a few subtle philosophical observations. The lovely Michelle Monaghan, who plays a fellow passenger, makes the most of limited dialogue and action. As with her roles in many other loud, chaotic action movies, she almost effortlessly imbues her character with some much-needed empathy. Her chemistry with Gyllenhaal grounds the otherwise ridiculous events occurring around them and provides the only real heart of the story.
Vera Farmiga is decent as Captain Stevens' supervisor, whose cold-hearted dedication to the mission masks a more sympathetic side. The only real acting complaint I had was with Jeffrey Wright, who kicked ass in the Bond reboots, but here unravels into an odd, mad scientist caricature complete with menacingly drawn out speech.
The cinematography is pretty, and often striking, especially when depicting the many, many explosions that occur as well as in the more intimate settings of Stevens' isolated world. The pacing is very good, alternating between the game-like experimentation within the Source Code and the steady drip of plot details that occurs outside in the still mysterious real world. This alternation gives the film a smart, purposeful personality in the first third, but begins to sag in the second act as we learn more and more about the absurd nature of the Source Code and Stevens' predicament. Still, the well-developed suspense keeps you hanging on despite the mounting plot holes. Unfortunately, the momentum comes screeching to a halt with a painfully excessive ending and epilogue in the last 20 minutes or so that seems more intent with each passing scene on erasing the pleasant memories of everything that came before it.
Now here's the thing with sci-fi movies that depend entirely on a nonexistent technology. No one thinks that the technical explanations must be 100% accurate and consistent with all known scientific facts; this is still fantasy, after all. Without a little creative license, we'd get stuck only watching boring NOVA documentaries. However, the technology's nature must at least reflect a reasonable extrapolation from current scientific knowledge and engineering. Thus, I can buy a "dream-sharing" machine in Inception, since dreams are essentially electrical signals which can theoretically be networked. It also helps when this technology is left purposely ambiguous. With Source Code, however, the writers simply work their magic device into a technical and conceptual corner that the film never quite breaks out of.
The main problem with the writing here is that the film establishes the nature of the Source Code as one fairly graspable concept (inhabiting someone's "memories" through a computer simulation). Then, the third act (in a desire to include a brilliant "twist" that will get people talking, no doubt) flips this concept around, turning our interpretation of the film's events into an arguably more intriguing perspective. However, almost NONE of the monumental implications of this twist are even explored; there simply isn't time. Instead, we're given a pat, sentimental ending that seems more like a cop-out than a brilliant resolution. Perhaps more frustrating is that the "twist" makes absolutely no scientific sense given the stated mechanics of the Source Code.
If the film had ended maybe ten minutes earlier, I think Source Code could have deserved a 7. Instead, the haphazard ending combined with the increasingly ridiculous techno-voodoo significantly killed my enthusiasm for this otherwise well-crafted story. "But how can an ending erase the quality of everything that came before it?" you might ask. Because the film never bothers to explore the implications of its twist from the beginning. If you rewatch The Sixth Sense knowing the twist, there's a whole other level of enjoyment to be gleaned from seeing how previously unnoticed details fit into the new framework. In Source Code, we are instead given a series of vignettes that toy around with the idea of "re-doing" certain events, without any cohesive discussion of the ultimately much grander (not to mention more morally troubling) nature of the Source Code. Not only is this wasted potential in a creative sense, but the film lacks a coherent message as a result.
Overall, Source Code is an enjoyable thriller, a decent action movie,and mediocre science fiction. See it if you're craving some reality-skewing escapism, but you might want to consider leaving the theater a little early.