It hasn’t happened often, but we’ve been down this road before. In 12 Monkeys Bruce Willis hopped through time to stop a terrorist. In Deja Vu it was Denzel’s turn. In 2011 Jake Gyllenhaal is given the ability to relive the last 8 minutes of the life of a train passenger before a bomb explodes (I’m assuming this work so long as a brain is among the salvageable parts).
Capt. Colter Stevens (Gyllenhaal) is in the Source Code, a program that allows unique individuals to read the data on the minds of the deceased. His mission is to uncover evidence in order to prevent a dirty bomb attack on Chicago. While in the Source Code, he’s a common teacher among the passengers on a train. Sitting opposite of him is Christina (Michelle Monaghan), but guiding him through his mission is Goodwin (Vera Farmiga).
Like Groundhog Day our protagonist suffers at the hand of death repeatedly as he searches for the right solution. This isn’t a formula that has gotten stale just yet, but it’s interesting how his 8 minute limit shouldn’t be tied to a random accident at precisely the tick of a clock. Unlike Bill Murray, Jake Gyllenhaal has a specific mission which takes the fun guessing out of the arrangement. Still, Source Code retains interest by keeping the stakes high and some genuine surprises add to the brew of fun. You could also read into the captain’s sacrifice as a jab a policy concerning whether or not it’s acceptable to violate human rights when confronted with terrorism.
I wish more could be said for the aesthetics, but you won’t be able to pick Source Code out of a lineup nor see it in a beauty contest. The production is dated. Swamping score is keyed at all the points a handbook would dictate if that handbook were titled Movies the Joel Schumacher Way. Visual effects are nothing special, most notably a blurring dismount performed by CGI Jake at the train’s starboard side. Lastly, the cinematography has today’s commonplace desaturation of reds, ensuring for a hyper-pale Monaghan.
There are moments where things get too ridicules for the intelligent to accept. Even after the explanation for how the Source Code operates, are we to believe that our teacher pal thoroughly explored the train so that his mind remembered what was behind every door? Giving this notion any thought whatsoever will destroy the suspension of disbelief. Even then Stevens’ repeated attempts to treat this memory as an alternate world by placing phone calls, emails, and insisting he saved people grows tiresome.
It’s difficult to write a review about a film when the plot twists are the key factors facilitating a reaction. So long story short, Source Code betrays its own message. It establishes a sci-fi narrative then at the last minute opts for a fantasy spin that could only be presented on a DVD extra. This ending is so unforgivably removed from the plausible that the best explanation I can dream up is that it’s the byproduct of studio intervention. Envision a penny pincher desperate to show growth on a chart over last year’s standings. I wouldn’t put it past this person to demand an edit in the name of pleasing audiences on an exit survey. The psychologists will agree that Mr. and Mrs. Smith will be more inclined to suggest an uplifting movie to their friends at the Moose Lodge. Of course no one has ever approached me and said I had to see a film because it gave them depression. Should the actual ending be by artistic design, then look no further at writer Ben Ripley’s credits which include two direct to video entries in the Species series. **
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