Geekscape Reviews Source Code

When celebrated Army helicopter pilot Capt. Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes strapped to a chair in what appears to be a space capsule, he’s confused and disoriented.  On the screen directly in front of him is the all business face of Goodwin (Vera Farmiga).  She’s trying to communicate with Colter but he might as well be on another planet.  She does her best to bring reason to the situation and begins repeating cryptic, key phrases that resonate with Colter triggering his memory of who he is and his past. 

His mission is simple, “find the bomb and you find the bomber.”

His essence is transported from capsule to a passenger seated aboard a commuter train heading for Chicago.  A lovely lady, Christina (Michelle Monaghan ), is sitting across from him.  She is thanking him for his advice, and yes she just might “go to India and become a guru.”  He looks around and wonders if this is a simulation and treats it so.  He imagines that all of the people are Sims fashioned to test him in some new military scenario.  Here’s “the token pretty girl” designed to distract him from his mission but as the passengers seem too real and the train too dusty, Colter realizes that this is the real deal, but by then it’s too late.

B O O M the train explodes and the eight minutes is up.

Is there a way to get around this 8 minute rule?

We’re back… not in heaven but back in the capsule with Goodwin’s steadfast face declaring “we are running out of time,” and he has to go back, “find the bomb, and you find the bomber.” <let’s do it again> 

Yes, but the next eight minutes will be similar, yet subtly different as new clues present themselves to Colter who is by now getting wiser, and making better choices in how he spends his quickly ticking away minutes.  As desperation pushes him, mistakes and progress are made in equal measure unveiling more clues to who the bomber is and ramping up the tension and suspense.

B O O M – the train explodes! <again – but it’s cool because we keep seeing new things, and getting to know more about the passengers on the train> 

Goodwin & Rutledge try to remind Colter – that time is running out – but WHY if it’s time travel?

Colter is confused -again.  Goodwin reassures him and explains once again (you wonder how many times they have already been through this) that they are running out of time.  He needs to discover every clue that will lead him to the bomber and ultimately prevent another attack by the same perpetrator and

B A M they send him in again.  You get the idea and hopefully enough info to get your interested but not to much to spoil how much fun this film is to watch.

Part Groundhog Day (minus the comedy), Sliders, and definitely similar to Quantum Leap (that starred Scott Bakula -who also plays Colter’s father, but only as a voice on a cell phone) but so much smarter than those shows which flaunted a low-brow science fiction bent to the whims of pulp writers and Hollywood number crunchers.

Source Code takes only the good stuff from those shows and then ups the ante by a factor of five, even when it too bends the rules of space and time to make the story jump.  The explanation on how the whole thing works as described by the scientist/boss of the Source Code Project, Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright) behind the new technology, seems plausible enough that I’m willingly to play along and enjoy the ride.  Apparently, it all works somehow because of Quantum Physics and the brain staying alive for about eight minutes after death, or something or other.  That part was confusing but by then I didn’t care.  I just wanted to see what would happen next, as each scenario becomes more interesting and exciting as the story unfolds.

Jake G spends a lot of screen time looking confused yet determined- which sums up his character.

Continuity is crucial when trying to pull off a story that takes place mostly within the confines of eight minutes that gets repeated over and over;  And attempting to keep it on track takes a lot of precise effort keeping every tangent straight, as us Geeks are hard to please and if it doesn’t add up – we won’t like it! 

One of the ways Director Duncan Jones (Moon) and writer Ben Ripley (TV movie- The Watch) keeps everything straight in the film is by creating concise time lines that inventory everything that is happening with each tangent keeping the overall story evenly paced and providing riveting clues without backtracking unnecessarily- a tight rope that is walked magnificently with precision throughout the entire 93 minutes – the perfect amount of time to tell this story. 

Director Duncan Jones on the set with Jake G and Michelle Monaghan,

The achievement accomplished in this film speaks of a way more experienced director and writer than just the few meager credits they have to their names; And if you haven’t seen Jones’s Moon, add that to the top of your movies to watch list.  It’s fantastic and Sam Rockwell’s performance is magnificent but back to Source Code.

The writer/director team gets to tell a real science fiction story that is not dictated by a quota of product placements, action scenes, boob shots, and explosions though there is certainly a number of those to be seen along the way but they are valid and add to the experience.  Thankfully, traditional Hollywood money crunchers didn’t seem to have much influence on messing up this script or if they were present they made good decision this time around.  I’ve seen a lot of movies recently that start out good and fall apart half way through, or worse, have a horrible ending.  This film is solid from start to finish.

I feel like there is some potential that you will walk away from this film asking questions, but not in the predictable fashion.  It’s affecting story, characters, and ending will be interpreted by every person on a different level but there is an obvious message:  Life is short – make the most of it, and secondly, don’t sweat the small stuff.  Neither requires much brain power to assimilate but like I said, those are the obvious messages.  The not so obvious ones are more meaningful and left for you to discover when you see this film <don’t you hate it when the critic gives everything away?>.

Therefore, I will only tread lightly on the potential of more meaningful themes to be seen, as you Geeks out there will no doubt be fighting over what this and that means in the film (as they were when I walked out). 

Why is it cold in here and how comes things are breaking?

As all good science fiction stories do… it asks “What if?”  And if you go along with it, and suspend what you know about reality, you will leave enchanted by the possibility of asking “what if” as I did and hopefully ignore some of the plot holes which really aren’t so bad.

The film is solid and well produced on many levels including a well shaped story, excellent production quality, interesting characters, smart editing, etc.  My expectations were low, as it sounded like an impossible task to create a Hollywood film bent on repeating eight minutes over and over again, and starring Jake G, whose last two roles – Love and Drugs, and Prince of Persia, both being less desirable fits than this one left me not excited to watch.  Simply – he’s good in this film and he redeemed his acting street cred with me.

Next week I will be reviewing what looks to be equally good, Hanna, a film from Joe Wright (Atonement) .  Please feel free to comment the Geekscape forum and share your thoughts on this film and the nuances of quantum mechanics, multiple universes, and the potential/consequences of effecting the past and future.

This film was screened March 29th in Seattle by Allie Hanley.