Source Code ~~~

Captain Colter Stevens is going to have a bad day…

Following on from the rather amazing sci-fi thriller ‘Moon’, Duncan Jones directs a rather intriguing sci-fi mystery thriller. I sense someone having a bit of an auteur moment.

Jake Gyllenhaal stars as the initially perplexed Captain, woken from a seemingly deep sleep into a train carriage opposite the spirited and ever watchable Michelle Monaghan. He knows nothing – why he’s there, who he is, where he’s going until, wait for it, the train explodes. Screen turns black.

Well, whadda ya know. He’s magically transported into a military-style capsule and the adventure begins.

Without giving away the entire film, Colter Stevens finds himself involved in some deep undercover special ops programme in which he is the hero who has to save the day. His only real contact in the outside world is the ever strong Vera Farmiga, a military operative who has to keep him on mission without giving away too much information which would undoubtedly freak him out.

The tension throughout the film is pretty good and this keeps the audience guessing as to how the Captain is going to overcome the problems he faces, not least in his repeated given 8 minutes. Over and over and over again, he must complete his mission before impending doom hits. The fun part is watching how he does things differently each time and how he gradually pieces together the plot which he must foil. On top of this, the audience is gradually exposed to the back-room military plans and ultimate mission and one slowly senses a pretty terrible feeling of doom and secrecy behind the Captain’s back, until the very end when both Colter and we understand how this has all come about and what it means for him.

Ultimately, this is a pretty clever and interesting film. Not too noggin-noodling (e.g. not as twisted as the brilliant ‘Inception’) but still one which tests you to keep up with what’s going on.

A million times better than a number of other time-shift films, such as the rather disappointing ‘Vantage Point’, and my only criticism would be that Jake Gyllenhaal wasn’t really given a chance/couldn’t be bothered to shine. For me, his main draw as an actor, is that he has a cheeky grin, which he is able to employ on suitable occasions and is very good at looking like he’s thinking very deeply. In this film he’s on the go, a lot, and I’m not sure it was the best role for him. Nevertheless, the film kept me guessing throughout and was enjoyable for at least 90% of the time.

And the ending – that will really chill you. And then you’ll start to wonder whether that kind of shit, somewhere in the world, is really happening!

Viewed: 7th April 2011