Directed by:
Duncan JonesScreenplay:
Ben RipleyCinematography:
Don BurgessComposer:
Chris BaconCast:
Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright, Michael Arden, Russell Peters, Albert Kwan, James A. Woods, Scott Bakula, Cas Anvar (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
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. (Summit Entertainment)
(more)Reviews (12)
Jake Gyllenhaal is cool, the film has a brisk pace, but my god! In science fiction you can use any crazy idea you want, but it has to stand on sufficiently firm laws, which isn’t the case here. This fictional universe is haphazard from the get go, and let’s not talk about the ending. Taken together, Source Code doesn’t have any climax. The last fifteen minutes could have turned into either an utterly irrelevant and uninteresting filler, or in nonsense, and unfortunately it was the latter. I was really thrilled with Jones’ previous film, Moon, but this is one is just a popcorn movie that squanders a very good premise, which if more refined could have resulted in a sci-fi gem. PS: Before the screening I was almost certain I wouldn’t be disappointed. I’m sorry about the rating. PPS (Spoiler): This film would make a little sense only if I were to accept the hypothesis that the device that works according to clearly explained laws, will work according to completely different laws, and completely differently, and that it will manage generate pure chance, and that by pure chance it will work spontaneously, regardless of the instructions of its creators, who still control it according to the laws they believe it abides to, but actually doesn’t… and I won’t do that :-D
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Source Code is a little big movie reminiscent of Donnie Darko, Proyas’ Knowing or The Adjustment Bureau, which was released at the same time. It is visually refined, with a playful, well-thought-out script, as well as emotional and witty. It’s great when a spring Hollywood genre movie that doesn’t pretend to be anything more than it is worms its way into your heart more than “big” winter Oscar dramas. That is exactly the case with Source Code. Jake Gyllenhaal is very good here. Ignore the cheap, forced epilogue. I’m sure it was a concession to the producers, who wanted a more uncomplicated happy ending than the real one, the only one possible, inevitably reached through tears.
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I like the fact that Duncan Jones sells utter banalities as little unobtrusive indie pieces, where many (rightly!) shout the words of the savior of intelligent sci-fi, and so on. With Source Code, however, I can't help thinking that if the whole thing had been treated as a quarter-hour short, the result would have been better than this feature film, which harms itself by trying to do too many things at once (time paradoxes, military trauma, the love story). In addition, the protagonist has the option to press the "load" button so many times that you eventually realize that he has to be able to do it once, just like in a PC game when you start from the same checkpoint for the umpteenth time and hope that this time you won't definitively die. 3 ½.
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Three words: Jake Fuckin’ Gyllenhaal. Finally, this handsome man didn't remind me of a steamed chicken, but his subtle charisma pulled the film in both genre positions. As a "mental" detective, he has the necessary energy, like a lover who has his scary softened eyes for eight minutes of love-making. Duncan Jones may not have had the strongest script to work with, but he caught on to the themes that fascinated him back in Moon, making the otherwise fairly ordinary sci-fi thriller into a very chilling spectacle. The hero, isolated and deceived even by the almost Verhoeven-Cronenberg motif of his exploited body - at the end all of this beautifully blew the wind into my sails, turning that rather austere and quickly exhausting story of a return to the past (or the appearance of the past) into a really powerful and quirky film that has no competition this year. If it weren't for the sometimes stupid dialogues and sometimes cheaper visuals, I'd have gone to euphoric heights.
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An intelligent, fast-moving genre movie that trips itself up with the concluding emotionless, logic-lacking (the “rules" of virtual realities versus the “rules" of parallel realities) and a five-minute race with no climax. Whether this comes from Jones’ head or a concession from the producers, this is exactly the type of ending that buries any positive impressions. Although the feeling fades over time, but in any case the after-taste remains with you.
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Once Duncan Jones masters narrative pacing, he will be talked about as the new golden child of Hollywood. His films have good concepts, great actors, captivating atmospheres – and simply last too long. Fortunately, with Source Code, this is not as much of a problem as it was with the overstretched Moon, but still, I couldn't shake the feeling that he could have made this into the most tension-filled film of recent times if he had just cut it down by about ten to fifteen minutes. Nevertheless, thanks to the still very solidly paced plot, the chemistry of the main duo, and above all, the well-rounded ending with a twist, this is a cinema experience with an intensity that many action thrillers hopelessly lack.
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Why have I put off the day watching this movie so much? Really interesting subject matter and I have to say that Jake Gyllenhaal surprised me greatly with his performance. A sophisticated script and details that leave you spellbound. I'm giving 5 stars mainly because I'm so confused that as far as I know I could have been in the movie too. I must also point out the brilliant music, which went nicely hand in hand with the plot. The only thing missing was a more elaborate ending.
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In terms of direction, character work, and tension, the film runs like clockwork. All three main characters are written, cast, and performed in a way that evokes a sense of maximum viewer identification and sympathy. The film has high-quality visuals, camera work, and atmosphere, but the list of strengths suddenly ceases if you reflect on the screenplay. It departs from the field of science fiction, which plays in the style of "what if," but still adheres to a logical interpretation of the world, whereas in the case of Source Code, logic took a vacation. Here, the story is based on a logical short circuit, a nonsensical premise that filmmakers get away with simply because a significant portion of the audience has become accustomed to switching off their brains with the first shots of a film and enjoying the visual effects and action. Another problem is the traditional Hollywood happy ending. This film would be much more impactful if it ended with the sacrifice of the main hero and his voluntary demise in the capsule in the laboratory. Overall impression: 60%.
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Catharsis. Not only did Source Code cross into the realm of quantum physics and sociology, it entertained and surprised me. Classic thought transfer (hi to fellow SGU fans) doesn’t happen here in the way that most genre experts would think, but in a much more sophisticated and I dare say less researched way. Ingenious action sequences come fast and furious and the audience has no time for any sense of doubt to emerge. In fact, there is no need. It’s disappointing that the finale is rather lacking in ferocity, but things needed to slow down a bit because, even though I consider myself to be a sci-fi connoisseur, I had trouble keeping up. Gyllenhaal is awesome again (forget that hairy prince) and you’ll find it as easy to fall in love with Michelle Monaghan as our hero does. Duncan Jones steps on the gas and after the excellent Moon (and we find a reference to this) he continues up the stairway to perfection. Bacon’s background music is a real treat.
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A small movie full of emotions, sincere, and perfect for lovers of science fiction and time-travel. Even the cast is very impressive. It lacks grand scenes, but it has momentum and originality. Literally a one-off for one evening, not a “big” movie that you would feel like watching repeatedly.
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If I wrote a short story called Source Code and sent it to the contest I submit something to every year, the judges would surely praise me for a fairly original idea and the repetition of the eight-minute scenes on the train, which always brings something new and is imaginatively interspersed with cool metaphorical interludes in the capsule. I'm sure they'd like the characters (I'd try to describe the main character in a way that's as Jake Gyllenhaal-like as possible), and I'm sure they'd be impressed by the absolutely beautiful, gorgeous scene when the world stopped. However, the judges would have a huge problem with what happens in Source Code after this scene. None of them would probably be able to digest the multitude of not only unexplained, but above all unexplainable question marks. And it's all the sadder that such an ending was not necessary at all. The director and screenwriters just wanted to act for a moment that they were making an important film with a big impact, but they forgot that they are not Nolan, who can get away with such excesses. Three and a half.
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This film is already good just because of the original premise, and then it was just a how everything around it is handled. And the result is a solid mystery film full of action and repeated explosions that gradually builds up to the denouement. Hidden underneath it all is a tiny amount of drama and romance between the main characters on the train. In short, a thrilling, thematically novel and well acted (especially Vera Farmiga) cinematic affair, which also has a great running time.
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