← Back to Reviews
in
#732 - Source Code
Duncan Jones, 2011
A soldier is drafted into an experimental program that forces him to relive the same few minutes over and over again in order to prevent a terrorist attack.
Duncan Jones made a strong first impression on me with his minimalist outer-space debut Moon; however, as with far too many directors that left a good first impression, it took me a long time to follow up on any other work that they did. His sophomore effort Source Code may be an upgrade in terms of scale but the actual storytelling seems to have taken a bit of a backward step. While much of what made Moon so good was its palpable air of unpredictability and mystery, Source Code goes for something a lot more familiar with its Groundhog Day-like time-travel plot. It begins with a military pilot (Jake Gyllenhaal) realising that he is inhabitating the body of a civilian as he makes his morning commute on a train. However, after a few minutes a bomb goes off on board the train, killing everyone. It is at this point that Gyllenhaal finds himself inside a small room being talked to by a military liaison (Vera Farmiga). It turns out that the train explosion is the lead-up to an even greater terrorist attack. In order to foil the next attack, Gyllenhaal becomes the unwilling test subject for an experimental technology that allows him to fully inhabit his civilian doppelganger's last few minutes of consciousness (the "source code" of the title) and try to figure out who is responsible for blowing up the train.
Source Code at least builds a tragic storyline as Gyllenhaal becomes increasingly frustrated by his dire situation, especially as he gets to know and develop feelings for the acquaintance (Michelle Monaghan) who sits across from him. This much is borne out by the various little twists and turns in the plot, which do just enough to distinguish the film beyond its well-trod basic outline. Gyllenhaal is good enough as the constantly-conflicted and traumatised protagonist, while Monaghan does okay as the bystander who must contend with Gyllenhaal's increasingly frantic behaviour (though one will naturally question the effectiveness of the romantic sub-plot considering the loop's tight time-frame). Farmiga is decent as the calm yet conflicted mission control who must contend with Jeffrey Wright's duplicitous tech genius. The technical aspects are also pretty solid and don't distract from the plot, only occasionally giving way to ostentatious levels of style - this much is true of one of the film's final scenes, which is definitely a stand-out and really should have been the film's actual ending (though the ending we do get doesn't completely ruin matters). Source Code is hardly the worst follow-up to Moon, but its extremely samey nature does prevent it from leaving much of a positive impression and I definitely hope that Jones' next attempt at high-concept can improve on it.
Duncan Jones, 2011
A soldier is drafted into an experimental program that forces him to relive the same few minutes over and over again in order to prevent a terrorist attack.
Duncan Jones made a strong first impression on me with his minimalist outer-space debut Moon; however, as with far too many directors that left a good first impression, it took me a long time to follow up on any other work that they did. His sophomore effort Source Code may be an upgrade in terms of scale but the actual storytelling seems to have taken a bit of a backward step. While much of what made Moon so good was its palpable air of unpredictability and mystery, Source Code goes for something a lot more familiar with its Groundhog Day-like time-travel plot. It begins with a military pilot (Jake Gyllenhaal) realising that he is inhabitating the body of a civilian as he makes his morning commute on a train. However, after a few minutes a bomb goes off on board the train, killing everyone. It is at this point that Gyllenhaal finds himself inside a small room being talked to by a military liaison (Vera Farmiga). It turns out that the train explosion is the lead-up to an even greater terrorist attack. In order to foil the next attack, Gyllenhaal becomes the unwilling test subject for an experimental technology that allows him to fully inhabit his civilian doppelganger's last few minutes of consciousness (the "source code" of the title) and try to figure out who is responsible for blowing up the train.
Source Code at least builds a tragic storyline as Gyllenhaal becomes increasingly frustrated by his dire situation, especially as he gets to know and develop feelings for the acquaintance (Michelle Monaghan) who sits across from him. This much is borne out by the various little twists and turns in the plot, which do just enough to distinguish the film beyond its well-trod basic outline. Gyllenhaal is good enough as the constantly-conflicted and traumatised protagonist, while Monaghan does okay as the bystander who must contend with Gyllenhaal's increasingly frantic behaviour (though one will naturally question the effectiveness of the romantic sub-plot considering the loop's tight time-frame). Farmiga is decent as the calm yet conflicted mission control who must contend with Jeffrey Wright's duplicitous tech genius. The technical aspects are also pretty solid and don't distract from the plot, only occasionally giving way to ostentatious levels of style - this much is true of one of the film's final scenes, which is definitely a stand-out and really should have been the film's actual ending (though the ending we do get doesn't completely ruin matters). Source Code is hardly the worst follow-up to Moon, but its extremely samey nature does prevent it from leaving much of a positive impression and I definitely hope that Jones' next attempt at high-concept can improve on it.