The long-awaited sophomore debut from director Duncan Jones (of the quietly awesome Moon), Source Code, has finally stepped into the light. On the surface, the Spring-2011 film seems an intriguing cerebral trip and a fittingly unique story for Jones to helm. Just as long as it doesn’t get sappy, devolving into lead, Jake Gyllenhaal, falling for the sexy brunette. We already skipped Love & Other Drugs, thank you very much.
Source Code is premised on the idea that a technology allows one to “cross over into another man’s identity during the last eight minutes of his life.” Quite a particular piece of tech, no? Gyllenhaal’s character, Captain Colter Stevens, finds himself using the “Source Code” to investigate a train bombing in an attempt to stop further attacks. And in a Groundhog Day kind of way, he’s able to relive those eight minutes over and over again. The whole affair smacks a bit of Deja-Vu, but that’s not a good or bad observation. I’m just glad to see Gyllenhaal back in a decent caliber film.
When decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up in the body of an unknown man, he discovers he’s part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train. In an assignment unlike any he’s ever known, he learns he’s part of a government experiment called the “Source Code,” a program that enables him to cross over into another man’s identity in the last 8 minutes of his life. With a second, much larger target threatening to kill millions in downtown Chicago, Colter re-lives the incident over and over again, gathering clues each time, until he can solve the mystery of who is behind the bombs and prevent the next attack. Filled with mind-boggling twists and heart-pounding suspense, Source Code is a smart action-thriller directed by Duncan Jones (Moon) also starring Michelle Monaghan (Eagle Eye, Due Date), Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air, The Departed), and Jeffrey Wright (Quantum of Solace, Syriana).
