Novel concept, sci-fi story trying to prevent terrorist attacks.

Rating: Null/10 (29 August 2011)

A movie like starts with a novel concept, then builds a story around it. The concept here is that when someone dies the last 8 minutes of their consciousness can be accessed. The second part of the concept is that a machine can transport the consciousness of someone else into that last 8 minutes to be able to examine closely what was going on.
Jake Gyllenhaal is Colter Stevens, military helicopter pilot, whose last memory is flying a mission "in country." But now he finds himself on a train, speaking to a woman he doesn't know. There are some strange interactions with a few passengers, he being confused about the situation, until a great explosion takes out the train plus the one traveling next to it.
Colter is unharmed, because he wasn't actually on the train but into the consciousness of a man who had been on that train. He has been sent there with one mission, to figure out who the bomber is because they are expecting him to strike again shortly, with a bomb into Chicago that will take out part of the city and a lot of lives.
While the first few minutes is pretty confusing, until you realize what is going on, ultimately the story makes sense and has a resolution that was not anticipated by the scientists controlling the experiment.
Michelle Monaghan is of course good as Christina Warren, the young woman Colter finds himself on the train with. As is Vera Farmiga as Colleen Goodwin, the lady in the lab communication with Colter. And Jeffrey Wright as Dr. Rutledge, the brains behind the novel technology.
Good movie, takes you places you don't expect. We saw it on DVD in Dallas with Natalie.
SPOILERS: Colter has to be sent multiple times into that last 8 minutes of the consciousness of the man killed in the explosion. Competing for his attention are his own questions about what happened to him, finally finding out he himself was reported dead in action. But, badly injured with only a part of his body left, he still had brain activity and was in the experiment. He formed the theory that the technology could also save the passengers, but alive in an alternate existence. He wanted to save and be with the girl. After he found the bomber, Michael Arden as Derek Frost, his alternate consciousness was able to send a text message to Goodwin, so she knew that the now saved train passengers were alive in the alternate existence, now that he prevented the train explosions.