Posted by on Apr 2, 2011 in Movies, Reviews | Comments Off

Source Code: Movie Review

Source Code - recently released starring Jake Gyllenhaal as Colter Stephens, a US army captain locked in a military version of ground hog day – is a real winner.  The premise of the movie is not original; man is locked in a cycle of repeating moments – in this case 8 minutes prior to a train blowing up – and is given the task of trying to identify the bomber.

Over and over again, Colter moves closer to identifying the bomber’s identity while at the same time slowly piecing together his own personal predicament (honestly, you’d have to guess something really strange was going on if you kept living the same moments over and over again).

What makes the movie compelling isn’t the action or inevitable explosions, but the characters.  In particular, the arc that Colter goes through, moving from frustration to despair to acceptance, is compelling and believable.  Even touching.  Playing along side him is the beautiful Michelle Monaghan as the estranged (or otherwise) girlfriend.  The uncertainty in the relationship adds to the possibilities here very well; do they fight in this version?  Do they love?  It really goes easily both ways with the final reunion having a very satisfying effect.

Lastly, Vera Farmiga does a great job as a compassionate and dedicate controller of Colter’s world.  The balance between professional and personal is well done and her struggles to exploit Colter’s situation feel genuine most of the time.

It also helps that she’s quite attractive in a military outfit.

In the end, the plot goes as you might expect it with only the slightest twist at the conclusion to provide the sense that you didn’t just sit through another Bill Murray rip off.  But it does enough to keep you interested and more importantly, to frame the dialogue that, frustratingly predictable in many places, stays fresh and rewarding.  It’s not so original however to define the genre, but it does a very good job and deserves the initial high reviews I’ve seen of it so far.

A recommendation for sure.