Source Code is a fascinating story masterfully told by a fairly new yet extremely talented director. Sequences unfold in a satisfying way throughout without being too predictable. It has the fast-paced action of Speed and the addictive narrative style of Groundhog Day. This is a science fiction/action film that happens to also be a great movie; not cheesy or gimmicky like others in the genre (no 3D glasses needed.) It may sound cliché but I literally was on the edge of my seat for most of this smart thriller. I was already sold on the director, Duncan Jones, from his brilliant film Moon. He tackles some of the same meaningful themes in this film that make you think and keep you thinking long after you leave the theater.
The Source Code itself is a system that can put you in someone's body for the last eight minutes of their life. The way it is explained in the film sounds like technical jargon combining real principles of quantum physics with some made-up voodoo hocus-pocus about recovering memories from the human brain to reconstruct a scenario from the past. They pull it off well and the sci-fi stuff never overshadows the realistic human drama portrayed in the film. It's at times reminiscent of the show Quantum Leap whenever the character sees his own reflection and it looks like someone else, (Scott Bakula actually makes an audio cameo in the film causing me to snicker a little in the theater.)
The story follows a brave soldier, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, who is trying to stop a terrorist before he strikes again, but every eight minutes he explodes on the train he is riding on and has to start over. I really liked how the suspense is built up throughout the film. Starting in the opening credits sequence we see a shot of a train heading toward the city and then a shot of the city. Suspense is created by repetition throughout the film: train, city, train, city, etc. After the train explodes we know the city is the next target. Even if the characters in the film didn't say it aloud we would still feel it was imminent. The visuals are powerful and artfully crafted to keep you invested for the entire film, always wondering how it's going to end.
Alfred Hitchcock has said you cannot have a scene with two guys talking about baseball for five minutes and at the end a bomb explodes. You should show the audience the bomb under the table, with the five-minute timer ticking down, before the gentlemen even enter the room. The audience will be on the edge of their seats yelling at the screen: "Get out of there! There's a bomb under the table! Why are you talking about baseball!?!" Many filmmakers can make a movie that looks like Hitchcock but few directors understand how to get the feel or heightened emotion like that of a Hitchcock film. This film epitomizes that feeling.
Despite my Hitchcock references above and the fact that it shows a person dying over and over again, this film is actually quite uplifting at times. The story evolves naturally and nothing ever feels forced or stuffed into the film just to look cool. I'm glad it wasn't released in the summer and touted as a big blockbuster action flick. Source Code has so much more to offer than that. It will make you think, your heart pound, and hopefully be the next big step in a long and fruitful career for the creative director. Be sure to check out Moon on Netflix if you haven't seen it yet and help me make Duncan Jones a household name. I cannot wait to see what fascinating concept he tackles next.