Thrilling and engaging!

Rating: 8/10 (9 October 2011)

Source Code begins by jumping right into the action which was an excellent approach to starting off the film; it kept the audiences' attention and at the edge of their seats. Instantaneously the viewers were filled with questions and assumptions as to the identity of the bomber. We are first introduced to Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) who wakes up on the train confused and disoriented and seated across from Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan). From then on it jumps back and forth from the real world to the 'source code' where Jake's character fights to not only find clues about the bomber, but as to how and why he was put on this mission. Coming into the theater I assumed that the film would only focus on locating the bomber but the film is given several layers such as Colter Stevens' history in the military and the relationship that progresses between him and Christina Warren. Ultimately what drives Jake's character is saving Christina and the other passengers on the train, but it is, at the beginning of the film, made clear that the source code is a shadow and a glimpse into eight minutes and therefore impossible to alter the past.
The director and writers did a great job in developing the storyline and the characters. I had fears that the film would become repetitive since Jake's character had to keep going back into the source code and was only given eight minutes each time he entered; but every time he went in something different would transpire and the storyline would develop more and more. There were many twists and turns in the film that made it all the more exciting and engaging! And with an ending that will leave a clever smile across your face.
Jake Gyllenhaal as always entertained the audience on the big screen. The comedic moments he was given in the film is the Jake-like-humor we LOVE seeing in other films such as Love and Other Drugs. When he needed to be intense and extreme he delivered; when he needed to be funny or compassionate he was proficient in doing so! This film was exhilarating, thrilling and mind boggling! It is fresh and different from any other thriller I've seen. Some may compare it to Christopher Nolan's Inception but it's a different take on the use and capabilities of the mind.