A Fine 21st Century Sci Fi Film

Rating: 8/10 (30 December 2012)

After the commercial ,and critical success of Moon, Director Duncan Jones was handed a bigger budget and bigger story for Source Code. The results are impressive. A student and aficionado of the Science Fiction genre, Jones takes a good plot idea and gives it a 21st century makeover to establish himself as a credible modern protagonist in the field.
Writer Ben Ripley's original idea is inspired- that an individual, in a parallel dimension might, for eight minutes, be able to affect the future, but not the past. This is ideal when you are trying to deal with a train and city threatening terrorist. In an amusing spin on Groundhog Day, our hero is able to keep returning until he gets it right, and thwarts the plot. Lead actors Jake Gyllenhaal as Colter Stevens and Michelle Monaghan as Christina Warren lead the action well.
Jones worked the confined spaces of space station well in Moon, he also replicates a twist regarding the ambiguity of the exact circumstances of the main character. He replicates that skill well by placing most of the action in a single railway carriage. American Directors notoriously lose their way when given a fistful of dollars, rather than dimes, to finance their films, but not Jones. The money goes on one (frequently reprised) set piece action sequence and a convincing set and cgi. The result is compelling, thought provoking, entertaining and gripping.
In a style which will excite Hollywood , the film is intelligent, but never self-indulgent and at 90 minutes is generally tight. Yet it is not flawless. A minor irritation is the inclusion of comic Russell Peters in a cameo role, demonstrably a fairly cynical attempt to create a broader North American market. It is unnecessary as he is not funny, although he apparently kept the cast amused between filming. The more significant failing is an appalling bolted on Hollywood ending that might have undermined the entire film if what had gone before had not been so good. Two excellent opportunities to end the film, a kiss and a freeze frame, are eschewed in favour of absurd schmaltz and a platform for a sequel. This is a shame, because the romance between the leads works well and reeks of a post production fix.