Customer Reviews

Source Code

5 star:		(86)
4 star:		(79)
3 star:		(25)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I'm not going to tell you what this movie is about.
Why, you ask?
Any info will ruin the experience.
And what an experience it was.
Here's what I liked.
Brilliant storytelling.
Incredible acting from everyone.
Direction, pacing, score were all top notch.

Anything I didn't like?
No.

This film does what so few films do, it will make you think.
It touches on so MANY different themes.
Right.
Wrong.
Good.
Evil.
Moral.
Ethical.
This life.
The next.
And pretty much everything in between.
Brilliant.
In an age of movies filled with senseless violence, unnecessary nudity and swearing that would make a truck driver blush, it's refreshing to see a movie that simply does what films should do....tells a story.
A grand story that I give my highest recommendation.

Acting - awesome
Plot - awesome
Directing -awesome
Effects- awesome
If you still enjoy being treated as an intelligent human being without compromising creativity, action, supsense, drama, sensuality, fun and believability in a movie - then this one is for you. Awesome movie.

SOURCE CODE has an element that is lacking in too many of the Hollywood CGI sci-fi experimental movies that are so very cloned these day - humanity. Much of the credit for this quality comes from the intelligent and imaginative writing of Ben Ripley and the tight direction by Duncan Jones, but the main reason this film works so well is the presence of charismatic and fine acting by Jake Gyllenhaal.

The story borders on the obtuse: a device has been invented by Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright) that can maintain a person in a state of recall much the way a light bulb has a glow after it has been extinguished. Rutledge has placed helicopter pilot Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal), who is missing in action in Afghanistan, in a capsule that is capable, under the direction of military officer Goodwin (Vera Farmiga), of projecting Stevens onto a train entering Chicago that has been planted with a bomb in order to discover the perpetrator who is apparently planning another bomb that will decimate the city of Chicago. It is a back and forth series of 8 minute exercises, each time Stevens relives the moments before a bomb detonation and gradually learns the the device and its owner. On board the train he meets Christina (Michelle Monaghan) who 'sees' Stevens as her boyfriend Sean and during these repeat flashbacks Stevens and Christina form a bond that makes Stevens re-think his 'purpose' in this military gimmicky.

*In the hands of the wrong people this little venture would seem trite and silly, but with this crew of creators it becomes a puzzle that touches on tension, fear, humor, and warmth. That is what a superb cast can do with any material, but with this particular strange tale it works perfectly. Grady Harp, July 11

I had been waiting for Source Code to come out since I saw the first trailer. Captain Colter Stevens is a helicopter pilot forced to relive the life of one Sean Fentress in order to catch a bomber. The premise is pure genius and the repeating of the same scene is kept fresh by the characters and the small changes that occur. Jake Gyllenhaal is a perfect fit for the main character. He is great at confused and wonderful as sympathetic. Michelle Monaghan is great playing off his character and Vera Farmiga is just terrific as she has to display multiple emotions with just her face. Jeffrey Wright's character is the only one not fully fleshed out but the movie doesn't really focus on him. Yes the ending might upset some people but it opens up a slew of questions (I've read so much stuff that people have written afterward) which is the hallmark of a good movie. Everyone should see this, especially fans of Fringe and the Matrix. I disagree with those who say it's like Groundhog day; it isn't.

I thought this movie was really good up until the last 10 minutes when the wheels came off and it got all sappy. A sad ending would have made more sense.

"Source Code" is director Duncan Jones' second feature film, after the existential science fiction drama "Moon" (2009) took viewers back to the thoughtful sci-fi of the 1970s. Elements of that style are in evidence in the unretouched look of "Source Code", which, in spite of its contemporary setting, shares some of the same themes. Capt. Colter Stephens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up on a Chicago-bound commuter train not knowing where he is or how he got there. The last thing he remembers was being a helicopter pilot with the 17th Airborne in Afghanistan. Now he sits opposite a woman named Christina (Michelle Monaghan), who calls him Sean and seems friendly. Colter's reflection in the mirror is unfamiliar to him, and, before he can figure it out, the train explodes in a fiery ball.

Now Colter is strapped into a capsule as a woman speaks to him through a monitor screen about an operation called Beleaguered Castle. She tries to help him regain cogent thought processes. Her name is Capt. Goodwin (Vera Farmiga), and she explains that the train he was just on exploded this morning, killing those aboard. Colter's mission is to go back and find the bomber, so a second terrorist attack can be prevented. He has 8 minutes. He's not traveling back in time, but into the residual memories of a man who was killed on the train. And so Colter goes back to the train, Christina, the explosion, the capsule, Capt. Goodwin. Again and again, as he hunts for the bomber, an understanding of himself, and of the implications of the technology that enables him.

It reminded me of "Moon" in its identity crisis and artificial reality, constructed for the benefit, or imprisonment, of the protagonist. This has a slicker, action-movie tone, though, rather than the contemplative pace of 1970s sci-fi. There is romance, action, and existentialism. And "Source Code", the mind-bending fusion of quantum mechanics and neurobiology that sends Colter into a dead man's memories, is billed as "a powerful weapon in the War on Terror." I felt the ending was a bit of a cop-out, and I'm not sure that it makes sense. But Colter's existential adventure does make sense, and there is enough action to keep the audience engaged even though, like our protagonist, we keep ending up back on the same train. Duncan Jones is now two-for-two and a promising talent.

The DVD (Summit Entertainment 2011): There are 2 featurettes, an optional Trivia Track that you can run during the film, and an audio commentary. "Cast and Crew Insights" (35 min) interviews cast and director about themes, characters, and each other, in 11 parts. Some nice comments, but it is repetitive and too long. "Focal Points" (7 min) presents the technical ideas used in the film in 5 parts: memory recall, military virtual reality simulations, quantum physics, many worlds theory, and brain computer interface. The audio commentary is by director Duncan Jones, actor Jake Gyllenhaal, and writer Ben Ripley. They compare the film to earlier drafts, discuss technical details and directorial decisions, filming, and Gyllenhaal shares his experiences. Subtitles are available for the film in English SDH and Spanish. Dubbing available in Spanish.

The movie opens with gorgeous shots of Chicago. It's a beautiful day and the regular train heading into the city is passing by houses, fields, forests...and then the main character wakes up. A gorgeous woman is mid-conversation with him and yet he has no idea who she is, or what she's talking about....a few minutes later, the train explodes and he dies.

Then he wakes up...he's in a SIM and being asked to go back and redo everything we just saw...a woman then calls him "Captain", and says he will have ten mins just like before.

Opening the film is also some of the best Hitchcock-themed music I've ever heard. It really sets the stage for what will be a thriller with a small budget. There are essentially 3 sets...a train, a SIM unit, and a command center...that's it...no wild foot chases through the streets of Chicago, no machine guns, planes shooting missiles, etc....its a simply story, where the viewer discovers things at the same time as the central character. This means one thing...we get to guess what is about to happen...this ads the "fun" aspect, something much needed in a film where we watch a man being repeatedly murdered.

It is definitely a science fiction film, having time-travel...or something like it...thrown in to the typical terrorist yarn. Of all the films mentioned I agree with everyone who says this is Quantum Leap meets Groundhog day...maybe with a little Deja-Vu peppered in.

Don't expect Transformers 3, Bad Boys, Iron Man, The Town, etc...this isn't a 100 million dollar summer blockbuster...its a small science fiction story that every person needs to see at least once. As for me, I saw it in theaters twice...something I rarely ever do (Inception, Dark Knight, Iron Man, Catch Me If You Can, and Chicago are the only films that come to mind).

Finally, the ending is jaw dropping, makes zero sense, and requires another viewing or two...talk about it with friends, that's what good films are supposed to make you do anyway.

This is a rather odd little movie, but I think that's a big part of why I liked it. The timespan covered by the movie is only a day, in fact focusing on only a few minutes of that day, and only a handful of people are involved, yet the movie is able to deftly explore a lot of important themes from a lot of angles via that small slice of life. The acting is also very good, with nothing being overdone. True, the alleged quantum physics used to make the plot possible is almost all nonsensical mumbo jumbo, but that's OK because the wise viewer will inherently be inclined to push the nonsense to the periphery and just run with the story. Here are a few of the themes that stood out for me:

- Life is "nonlinearly sensitive" in the sense that the smallest events can result in an entirely different life trajectory (the well-known "butterfly effect").

- Superficial judgments of people often turn out to be completely wrong.

- Life can end unexpectedly, so don't squander the time you have. Make every day count.

- Don't forget to tell the people you love that you love them. Before it's too late ...

- There may be some form of afterlife, but it could be quite different than what we imagine.

Now do you see why I liked the movie? Recommended if you're looking for something that has some depth. In fact, when I finished the movie I thought it deserved four stars, but my further reflection on the movie upgraded it to a solid five stars.

SOURCE CODE (dir. Duncan Jones, 2011, 93 minutes AND I WILL POSSIBLY SPOIL THIS WITHOUT INTENTION) is an ocean of fun, Hitchcockian suspense and metaphysics, unbearable tension, extreme silliness - all this meant as a wrapping for some deep moral dilemmas.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Captain Colter Stevens, an experimental subject (with an emphasis on the "mental"). He is meant to retrieve as much data as possible to find a bomber who is heading toward Chicago. The trouble is, he is supposed to find this bomber, if he can, in the past. This is a reboot of GROUNDHOG DAY, 13 MONKEYS, TRON and any other similarly great, silly films. A really good clue: this film is very reminiscent of an old "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode called "A Matter of Perspective", episode 62, 3rd season, in which Cmdr. Riker is accused of murder, and a hologram reconstruction of the crime is carefully studied. (Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 62: A Matter Of Perspective [VHS])

The problem as I see it is an immense, unnecessary flaw in the story and plot. The film seems like time travel. It isn't. It also seems like it's communication with the dead. Well, almost. The flaw is that this movie vacillates between two mutually annihilating stories/technologies. It is impossible to reconcile them unless you decide time's components themselves are parallel universes. Even then, better to avoid bogging the movie down with too much thinking. They even tell Capt. Stevens that in the film.

No surprise, then, that this occasionally bass-ackward movie stands its manifold messages on their heads, which is the brilliant fun of it. From the uselessness of contacting the dead to help us, to the little value we place on our soldiers while asking them to sacrifice it all. From the hysteria of preventing terrorism to the hysteria of becoming the most famous savior of the world. From secret government projects to playing God. It's all here, and it is spooky. Hitchcock, Kurosawa and Gilliam did this kind of thing much better - yet they would never have dreamt of trying what SOURCE CODE accomplishes.

With the brilliant talents of Jeffrey Wright as Dr. Rutledge and Vera Farmiga as Captain Colleen Goodwin, a PLANET OF THE APES soundtrack and non-stop action, this instant classic cannot be missed. In spite of the migraine I obtained by thinking out all the stupid things they did with the logic here, I loved it. Took away a star for the migraine, thanks a lot Hollyweird ....

SPOILER CODE: There is no time travel.

I ascribe to that theory for my current modern conspiracy Delta Green role-playing campaign, and so does Source Code. The premise is simple, if considerably underused in science fiction. Source Code seeks to correct that imbalance. Like Donnie Darko, Source Code posits that perception is reality. There's no such thing as one time stream, but rather multiple streams formed every time a decision is made.

Source Code uses this many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics to fight the war on terror. Army helicopter pilot Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) is co-opted to investigate a terrorist attack on a train in Chicago. He jumps into the body of Sean Fentress, a school teacher, who is traveling with his attractive but platonic companion Christina Warren (adorable Michelle Monaghan). It doesn't end well.

Air Force Captain Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) soon dispels Stevens' confusion: he has eight minutes to go back into the Source Code, a snapshot of reality that's basically a highly interactive video game. Time is of the essence, so Stevens is sent back into the Source Code again and again to find the bomb and the identity of the terrorist, his reservations notwithstanding. It's about this time that Source Code starts to strain under the weight of its plot.

Stripped to its basics, Source Code is basically a two-person play about relationships, one in person (Stevens/Warren) and the other long-distance (Stevens/Goodwin). The camera pulls in tight on Gyllenhall and Farmiga as they engage in alternately pained, exasperated, frustrated, and flirty conversations. It pulls out to appreciate Monaghan's loveliness and Gyllenhall's handsome profile. This is an actor's movie.

It's also a Duncan Jones film, who is fast becoming a modern-day Phillip K. Dick as he tackles questions of self in his films. Like Moon, Source Code is as much about the definition of reality as it advances the plot.

Which is perhaps why the resolution isn't particularly compelling. Source Code studiously avoids any hint of political controversy by having a bland villain with little motivation. It telegraphs its plot twists. And its ending is a little too neat for my tastes. But then, Source Code is more interested in poking your brain than tugging your heart strings. Jones' primary goal seems to be focused on getting the audience to view time travel differently, and in that regard Source Code is a resounding success. I finally grokked the basics of quantum mechanics thanks to the extras on the DVD.