Source Code

“Intelligent Sci-Fi Making A Comeback”

From “The Matrix” to “Minority Report” to “Groundhog Day”, the recipe for the new sci-fi thriller “Source Code” has a long list of familiar ingredients. But it’s served up with intelligence, humor and a lot of heart. Following “Limitless” only a few weeks ago, “Source Code” is evidence that thoughtful science-fiction is starting to make a strong comeback.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays a sort of military cyber-soldier. He wakes up on a Chicago commuter train that, in 8 minutes, will explode at the hands of a terrorist. In a cool bit of new time-travel physics, this explosion has already happened and everyone aboard the train has been killed, but Gyllenhaal is able to be sent back only as far as 8 minutes before the explosion for the purpose of identifying the terrorist before he can strike again later. His mission must be repeated over and over during those same 8 minutes until the terrorist can be identified. Saving the passengers or trying to alter the outcome is impossible since they are already dead. To explain more would be to give too much away.

If this sounds confusing, much is owed to director Duncan Jones for making the plot surprisingly easy to follow. This is Jones’ second feature following his well-received “Moon” and suggests that he is well on his way to becoming the next Christopher Nolan, especially if “Source Code” is this year’s “Inception” which it well could be.

Jones seems to be developing a recurring musical fetish in his films. Despite being the son of rock star David Bowie, Jones’ has now used Chesney Hawkes’ 1990s hit “The One And Only” as the only song licensed in both of his films.

“Source Code” is a nearly perfect movie. Despite having all the usual thriller elements, including an exploding train, it really only threatens to go over-the-top romantically. Gyllenhaal begins to fall for one of the doomed passengers on the train played by a bubbly Michelle Monaghan. He pleads with his mission commander, wonderfully played by Vera Farmiga, for the chance to save her.

“Source Code” might have benefited from ending a few minutes sooner that it does. I felt a bit let down by those final moments which only seem to exist for the purpose of turning this film into a TV series or movie sequel franchise. There’s a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too moment that I could have done without. But overall, “Source Code” is a sci-fi thrill ride that’s entertaining as hell.

DVD Double Feature:

In 1989’s little-seen “Millennium”, Kris Kristofferson plays an NTSB investigator searching for clues to what caused the collision of two jumbo passenger jets. Cheryl Ladd is a mysterious woman who enters his life right at this time. Like “Source Code”, the story unfolds to become an intriguing sci-fi time-travel thriller involving people in the future attempting to save people in the past before they become the victims of a mass tragedy.