Source Code (Summit Entertainment)
Understandable In An Alternate Universe
Source Code is the kind of movie you enjoy thoroughly while you are sitting through it but when it is over and you start thinking about it you go huh In other words the plot points and the explanations given for them are not completely comprehensible. It helps if you are a fan and follower of the sci-fi TV series Fringe which has been dealing with alternate universes for some time now.
At the start of Source Code Air Force Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up on a train out of Chicago. A woman sitting across from him is speaking to him as to an old friend. Her name is Christina (Micelle Monaghan) and she keeps calling him by another name.
Eventually he looks into a mirror and sees he is inhabiting someone elses body. He also finds out that the train explodes because a bomb goes off. Immediately after the explosion he finds himself inside a contained space where he can communicate only with Air Force Officer Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga). She tells him he is part of an Air Force study by which he can inhabit another persons body for the eight minutes prior to their death.
So Stevens goes back inside the body of this person on the train over and over trying to determine who the bomber is. With that information the Air Force believes it can prevent future bombings. What Stevens wants to do is to save Christinas life.
Gyllenhaal is okay in the lead role but is nothing dynamic. He looks weary and it is unknown why he appears that way. He is okay in the physical and dramatic requirements of the role, and he has good screen chemistry with Monaghan. She however is better at bringing her character to life.
Farmiga brings added warmth to the story as Goodwin while Jeffery Wright brings a coldness as her superior. The various supporting players on the train are all quite good in their roles.
The film is rated PG-13 for profanity and violence.
Source Code is a film that will hold your interest from beginning to end. It is engrossing and suspenseful. The only flaw is that the complex storyline does not quite hold up upon reflection after the movie ends. Still it is a great ride and a fun to watch film.
I scored Source Code a traveling 6 out of 10.
