Review of film: “SOURCE CODE”

2011, 03-29 =

Review of film:  “SOURCE CODE”

                    Will this movie leave you “CODE” or IMPRESSED?...

The film starts with impressive views of flying over the skyline of downtown Chicago...  But, unusually, we keep seeing REPEATS of some of the same scenes...  There’s a “reason” for this--  which will become apparent bit-by-bit...

...  On a commuter train going thru the Chicago area, we see a man named Colter Stevens (JAKE GYLLENHAAL) who’s being spoken to by his girlfriend, Christina Warren (MICHELLE MONAGHAN)...

...  But, rather than appreciate her warm interest, Jake is upset by it:  in a very “out-of-it” way, he insists he doesn’t know her.  She thinks he’s kidding--  but he’s not, he’s sincerely very confused by it all...  He becomes even MORE upset when the train is soon BLOWN UP by a bomb!...

...  If that wasn’t “enough”, things become even worse when Jake starts to “RELIVE” the incident all OVER again, with slight “changes” in the situation...

...  Adding to that, he finds himself talking to some stranger on a video screen, a military-suited woman named Colleen Goodwin (VERA FARMIGA)...

...  She keeps trying to bring him back to “reality”--  or, more precisely, what she “WANTS” him to come “back” to so he can answer her insistent questions, which clearly involve her trying to get some “vital” information from him that he doesn’t “have” or understand...

...  What’s “going on” here?!...  Well, one of the “tag lines” of the film is, “Make Every Second Count”...  Another ad line is, “CHANGE the past. SAVE the FUTURE.”... 

...  There are your clues:  this is a SCIENCE-FICTION film, that unfolds “layer-by-layer”...  It seems that Vera wants Jake’s help in PREVENTING the bomb (and possibly another one) from going off...

...  But, she, & her boss Dr. Rutledge (JEFFREY WRIGHT), make clear he can only operate in 8-minute increments before he has to be “removed” from the task at hand...  After that, he goes into a sort of “frozen” & partly “SHATTERED” state...

...  Vera --  in cryptic ways – makes clear she needs Jake (a veteran soldier of the Afghanistan conflict) to find out where the BOMB is & who’s seemingly “PLANTED” it on the train...

...  But, there are LOTS of possible “suspects” on the train:  a onetime TV comedian named Max Denoff (RUSSELL PETERS) who sits near them wearing a Chicago White Sox jacket...  And a man named Hazmi (CAS ANVAR) who appears to be of Arabic descent who exits the train at one point...

..  Then, there’s a bearded guy (possibly George Trozel, played by BRENT SKAGFORD) who’s aways using a computer...  And his seatmate, a college student (KYLE GATEHOUSE) who wears glasses & returns a dropped wallet to Derek Frost (MICHAEL ARDEN) as they both get OFF the train before the bomb explodes...

...  Each time Jake is sent “BACK” in time, he learns a bit more about the “situation” on the train & his “OWN” story background-wise...  All of that helps Dr. Rutledge “explain” just what the “SOURCE CODE” is that he’s USING to try to get what he “needs” out of Jake...

...  Will Jake FIND the bomb, &, if so, will he be able to disarm it?...  Will he learn whether there’s ANOTHER bomb that might threaten the city?...  Will he be able to determine WHO is behind placing the bomb(s) to threaten the populace?... 

...  Will Vera & Jeffrey allow Jake to do what he himself WANTS to do?...  Do they or Jake feel he can really “CHANGE” what we’ve seen “happen” to the train?...

...  I found this to be a FASCINATING and unusually WELL-DONE thriller, with really effective ACTING work and a lot of satisfying “TWISTS” that add to the thought-provoking themes & ideas presented...

...  It’s not a “perfect” sci-fi, in that I found the second of the main “conclusions” regarding some main characters to be a bit “VAGUE”..  But, for what does work admirably, I’m rating this at 8.5 of 10 stars...

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