Source Code

Source Code (2011)

Directed By Duncan Jones

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright

Source Code is the second directorial effort from Duncan Jones who made his debut as a director with Moon in 2009. The film was written by Ben Ripley in his first major motion picture project. The movie stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, and Jeffrey Wright.

Jake Gyllenhaal is known for a wide variety of films, from Donnie Darko to Brokeback Mountain which earned him an Oscar nomination. Michelle Monaghan was recently featured in the hit Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and was also in Mission: Impossible III. Vera Farmiga was nominated for an Oscar for her role in Up in the Air and has been in a number of other films including Quid Pro Quo and The Departed. Jeffrey Wright is another familiar face with parts in movies like The Ides of March and Syriana just to name a few.

Colter Stevens (Gyllenhaal) has woken up to find himself in another persons life. Sitting on the train across from the beautiful Christina (Monaghan) he’s trying to figure out how he got there. When the train explodes he finds himself in the middle of a mission to discover who bombed it. His only help comes from Goodwin (Farmiga), an officer who speaks to him from somewhere unknown. Soon he finds himself back on the train with eight minutes before it will explode again. As he repeats his trip on the train he seeks to stop the bombing and figure out how he got involved. At the other end of the mission is doctor Rutledge (Wright) who keeps pushing for answers. As Colter digs deeper he finds out that nothing is as it seems.

This was a fun and interesting science fiction thriller. All of the actors did a good job with their parts and gave the film some depth. The story was also interesting and had some good twists throughout. The visuals in the movie are also good, from the explosions to other effects it’s fun to watch.

Any fault with the movie comes from weak use of a great premise. Throughout the film there are chances for this premise to be used in deeper ways. Unfortunately, the movie seems to glaze over some opportunities with the story.

This was a good movie that could have been a great movie. Despite the misses with the premise, this is still worth seeing. I would recommend this for anyone who enjoyed Minority Report or movies like that. I give this one 3.3 out of 5 stars.

Rating: PG-13

Running Time: 93 minutes