Sledge and Hammer's Review of: Source Code

Source Code starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, and Vera Farmiga. Written by Ben Ripley and directed by Duncan Jones.

Crashed Army helicopter pilot Capt. Colter Stevens finds himself inserted in the source code apparently without his knowledge. He wakes up on the Monday morning train heading for Chicago, where he’s hijacked someone else’s body and mind while sitting across from Christina, played by Michele Monaghan.

Captain Stevens has eight minutes to find the terrorist responsible for planting the bomb that will destroy the train. He fails on the first attempt and returns to his containment pod where he is debriefed until it’s time for his military handlers to send him back in. Stevens soon discovers that each reentry to the past is slightly different leading him to the realization that not everything is set in stone.

Overall, this film makes excellent use of special effects while reliving the same eight minutes multiple times from slightly different perspectives. The multi-layered plot leads the audience down a windy path of discovery as Stevens attempts to complete his mission.  The writing is crisp, with no wasted lines or useless scenes. The director even manages to toss-in a few red herrings to throw would-be sleuths off the scent. Both of us were kept guessing as to the true identify of the bomber - not an easy feat.

Capt. Stevens’ character is well written and Gyllenhaal gives him a welcomed freshness instead of portraying the soldier with the usual stiffness associated with a combat pilot. Unfortunately, Michelle Monaghan’s character was simply fluff and a rudimentary mechanism for Gyllenhaal's character to ask questions and reveal information to the audience. Monaghan seemed one dimensional and not much of an emotional tool as we think she was intended to be. On the other hand, Vera Farmiga’s character as Goodwin was handled well. She was dynamic, emotionally sympathetic to Stevens’ plight, and an important plot-driving force.  

The only complaint we had was the ending.

While it’s right on point and it totally worked, the climax did seem a little rushed and poorly handled leaving us scratching our heads a bit. The writers threw out a few science buzz words along the way hoping it would explain the physics behind the technology, but it made it even more confusing. Maybe this was done on purpose, hoping we would shell out another $10 to see the film again just to understand the science.

Discounting the week technical basis and the rushed ending, this flick is worth seeing and great ride. Well done and recommended for all science fiction fans.