Sci-fi Lite, but a satisfying, intelligent date flick

Rating: 8/10 (17 May 2011)

In a film so fast paced that most audiences wouldn't notice any plot holes until well after the lights come up, the Asimovian/Heinleinian underpinnings are so well written that even after a couple hours discussion most will feel that a majority of the obvious incongruities are satisfyingly tied up - and given the general appealing nature of the characters and story, you will want to talk about the film over long drinks or desert afterward if this is taken as the intelligent date movie it should be.
One of the nicest things about SOURCE CODE is that *part* of the quality in the writing is knowingly letting the audience guess what's going on a scene or two ahead of the characters. We went in not even knowing the core concept, just that there were sci-fi overtones and that the lead was the always enjoyable Jake Gyllenhaal - it could just as well have been Matt Damon or any of the other current young action heroes - and were immediately swept up in the well explained action. All very satisfying, but, as I said at the start, also ultimately light. Because it is at its heart a sci-fi mystery, once the mystery is solved it doesn't seem as weighty philosophically or as demanding of re-viewing as, say, a GROUNDHOG'S DAY, but it is just as much undeniable fun at the time.
Despite my last sentence, this is a film I'm going to want on DVD when it comes out. The CGI effects - both exploding trains and the in-lab environment(s) for Gyllenhaal - are beautifully executed and the real time cinematography is a delight to watch. Is Chicago re-imagined as it might look in a decade or two or shown as it is? From these crispy clean overhead and suburban angles it is hard to tell for this non-native. If the setting is, as I suspect, in the near future, it is delightful to have an essentially optimistic take on the future for a change.
Just HOW optimistic will depend in part on how the audience interprets the final scene - which is one more admirable aspect of the generally salubrious writing. Note that the final text message sent and received (is it to this reality or an alternate? Your choice) is "Help him", not a request to "give him what he wants" *now*. Again, what is meant or how it will be interpreted is left to the audience - and offers as many possible interpretations as there may be dimensions the audience is willing to posit.
This will almost certainly be long forgotten by the nominators when the year-end honors are being proposed, but it is still the most satisfying non-epic science fiction film I have seen in a very long time. If you like light sci-fi or tech-mysteries, this is close to a don't miss and a great potential date movie if your date is intelligent enough. Think INCEPTION-lite. I suspect that in 50 years SOURCE CODE will play as well as the 20th Century Fox Charlie Chan or Mr. Moto films do today - even though no one is going to build a series around it.