Poignant moments in a contemporary Sci-fi

Rating: Null/10 (2 August 2011)

After an explosion kills a train full of people an Air force pilot is tasked with reliving the last 8 minutes of a man's life on the ill-fated train to discover who planted the bomb and prevent further attacks thanks to a project called the Source Code. However, in doing so he discovers a truth about himself is more astonishing than the source code programme itself.
Source Code plays out as a long Twilight Zone episode, but that's not a bad thing, it's theme is that of worm holes, parallel universes, reality consciousness and debatably time travel. There are three amusing nods to the TV series Quantum Leap two of them subtle.
Jake Gyllenhaal is on top form here as Colter Stevens (a play on Colt Seavers possibly) and adds scope and emotion to his character as he's forced to relive the last eight minutes of life over and over again to find the bomber. Michelle Monaghan is fine with what she's been given but is really a story pawn as Stevens gets to know here better after each time the 8 minutes are rest. The most interesting character Colleen Goodwin is played superbly by Vera Farmiga who is torn between duty and Stevens' wellbeing. Jeffrey Wright (of James Bond Felix Leiter fame) gives a fitting performance as source code creator Dr. Rutledge.
While Duncan Jones wonderfully crafts the film with limited but successful use of effects mainly the train explosions, he manages to keep the repetitiveness fresh showing different angles revealing different parts of the train throughout. Thanks to writer Ben Ripley the story allows other settings to be used in the limited repeated 8 minutes. That said, there are few surprises, also some stereotype anti-prejudice which has now become a cliché in the bombers identity and those suspected is included. This sets it below the sharpness of Duncan Jones 2009 film Moon.
Thanks to the intriguing closing scene you don't feel cheated and it's a satisfying piece of constructive science fiction within a contemporary setting. Like Jones' début the poignant moments manage to tug at heart strings which for a popcorn flick is sparse these days. Recommended.