Source Code

Source Code

A Film Review By: David Ramirez

★★★/★★★★

When decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens 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 eight 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.

Jake Gyllenhaal is our hero in this Sci-fi thriller and I must say I really enjoyed his performance in this film.  In a movie where he could have easily overacted and been way too dramatic, he did the very opposite.  At the points where he was required to show emotion he does it much like a soldier would, controlled but still not afraid to display some of it.  Gyllenhaal’s performance in the film is enough to make us believe he was really in this strange situation and truly was the hero the film required.  Like many of Gyllenhaal’s performances he truly seems to in body the character he is playing and in Source Code he does just that.

Michelle Monaghan plays Christina Warren a young women who is a friend of the man who Gyllenhaal now inbodies and she also is a passenger on the train that is about to explode.  Monaghan gave the right performance for this role, she never once try's to steal a scene or just be overly dramatic.  Instead she did the very opposite and played it cool, despite the very strange happenings around her.  
                         

Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright round out the cast as Gyllenhaals only contacts outside of the “Source Code”, and the only ones who can give him answers.  Over all they both gave solid performances in their respective roles.  Farmiga at many points came across as very caring and in a sense, almost motherly toward Gyllenhaal and his ordeal. Wright played it differently, very hard nosed, stubborn and all about the mission.

The basic premise means there is a repetitive series of events that will cause Gyllenhaal to go back and forth between the two set pieces. Director Duncan Jones, working from Ben Ripley's clever script keeps all the puzzle pieces in constant motion and making sure the audience stays on the edge of their seat.  Also, the action is perfectly placed and never over the top, as many modern day Sci-fi/”Action” films can be.  Is Source Code for everyone? No it’s not. But it's certainly worth watching for any film viewer who wants to dive into an interesting story, or at the very least, be entertained.