The distraction

Rating: 7/10 (21 August 2014)

Captain Colter(Gyllenhaal, driven), wakes up on a Chicago subway train, sitting opposite of Christina(Monaghan, adorable, if less so than she was in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang which is still a ton). She knows, and clearly likes, him, yet he has no recollection of getting on, nor does he recognize her or his own reflection! 8 minutes later, the car blows up. He comes to, back in that same situation. It has already happened, but he can keep going over that portion of time, and try to find and stop the bomb. And, lest you think there is no tension or reason for us to care(as is the case with Edge of Tomorrow), he has to do it fast it was only the first attack, and he is the best chance of preventing the next one.
This gains a lot from the human story in there, with our protagonist's insistence on being more than a tool, by being allowed to contact his father outside of the "replay", and the studio-enforced, yet still sweet, romance. The explanation for the sci-fi aspects strains credulity, though not to the breaking point. It's fun to see him try to crack the mystery, and we are guessing right along with him. Ultimately, the solution has a number of problems: it feels so convenient and simple that I kept waiting for the twist to it, and it's easy once we get there, to the point where the audience wonders why it took so long to get there. The effects, editing and cinematography are very nicely done.
This isn't as clever as it thinks it is. It also doesn't realize all of the ethical issues the concept brings up, in spite of trying to address the ones it can. The subtle exploration of post-9/11 thinking is one of the greatest strengths here. With a running time of 83 minutes not counting the end credits(89 with), and the first(as we're waiting for the film to establish what we go into it already knowing, or at least be entertaining until it gets there) and last quarter of an hour not being all that compelling, we're left with a middle that is enjoyable enough still, I don't expect I'll watch this again. While the ending does make sense, it's rather sappy, and we end up feeling more tricked than surprised.
The DVD comes with the three(the latter two alternate subtitles, every few minutes a short piece of text will come up, neither of them spoil anything, so you can just put them on for the first viewing) informational tracks: #1: audio commentary with Jake Gyllenhaal, Director Duncan Jones, and Writer Ben Ripley, #2: Access Source Code: Trivia(facts that have some connection to what's on screen, such as a "no smoking" sign telling us when such a ban was first done. They don't really have anything to do with the movie itself. It's funny in a quirky sort of way, since it's like watching the film with an easily distracted, sentient encyclopedia, which responds to the visuals with free association – after a while, I started trying to guess, sometimes successfully, what it would "pick" to spout stuff about.) and #3: Tales of Time Travel(titles and short descriptions of time travel stories, most of them films, in no particular order decent, but it might as well have been text in a menu), three interesting featurettes: the 26 minute Cast and Crew Insights(interviews), 6 and a half minute Focal Points(the concepts are explained) and 18 minute Expert Intel(physics professor discusses the realism of different aspects of this), trailers for Unknown, Brighton Rock, Attack the Block and this, and an ad for Mars.
There is a little violence, disturbing content and moderate to strong language in this. I recommend this to the biggest fans of stories about time-travel, alternate universes, etc. 7/10