Strong Lead Performances and Direction

Rating: Null/10 (22 January 2012)

Source Code (2011)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Strange but satisfying science-fiction film has soldier Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) waking up on a Chicago train talking to a woman (Michelle Monaghan) that he doesn't know when eight-minutes later the train blows up from a terrorist attack. Colter then wakes up as part of a scientific experiment, which allows a source code to be used to transport someone back in time to re-live someone's final eight-minutes, which the soldier is doing for a man on the train. Colter must keep investigating these final minutes to try and determine who set the bomb off and to prevent a future attack. SOURCE CODE has a complicated storyline and a very far-fetched premise but director Duncan Jones does a marvelous job at making sure you can follow it and never got lost in the twists and turns. The movie's certainly a lot harder to explain than actually watch because once the story does pick up and take off you're really on the edge of your seat in thrills. Gyllenhaal offers up another excellent performance and it's this performance that really helps draw you into the material. Just look at the first scene where he wakes up not knowing why he's on the train and the level of confusion that he gives off matches what the viewer is feeling. Gyllenhaal not only makes for a good lead but he also comes across as someone you can follow throughout the film. Monaghan doesn't have as much to do but she too is charming in the part and Vera Farmiga is also very good in her role. I think a lot of credit has to go to Ben Ripley's screenplay because it mixes so many different genres but it never gets watered down or to the point where you simply don't care. It's a rather complicated bit of science and fiction but Ripley's story never crosses the line to the point where it's a turn off or to the point where the viewer just won't care what's going on. Jones' direction perfectly brings the material to life and the way he floats us through the action pieces was very good and I especially liked the different ways the eight-minutes were shown.