Source Code

SOURCE CODE
OPTIMUM RELEASING
RELEASED 1 April 2011

‘Groundhog Day’ meets ‘Inception’ (or insert alternative sci-fi brain-bender of your choice) is how everyone is going to describe ‘Source Code’. And they wouldn’t be wrong. Even though the story has nothing to do with ‘Groundhog Day’, the plot mechanics (man has to relive the same day over and over again) are virtually identical.

Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) groggily awakes aboard a Chicago-bound train. Opposite is Christina (Michelle Monaghan), a woman he doesn’t know but who seems to know him. After having coke spilt on his shoe, his ticket clipped, and discovering he’s not who he thinks he is, the train dramatically explodes, killing everyone onboard. The next thing we know, we’re back with Colter inside a dark grey isolation unit, like a giant twenty-sided die. A monitor shows a uniformed woman named Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) requesting he divulge what he’s just learnt from his time on the train. Colter is inside the ‘source code’, the ability to go into the last eight minutes of a person’s life (compared to the vague light halo you get around a lightbulb after it’s been turned off) and discover new information. His mission is to discover who blew up the train, because another, bigger explosion is expected in the heart of the city within hours. Only Colter can retreive the necessary information required to find the bomber and stop him.

So in a nutshell, we watch the same eight minutes over and over, but with Gyllenhaal doing things slightly differently each time. From his hazy, clumsy first entry, repeated trips into the source code increase his familiarity with what will happen, and the list of suspects is gradually narrowed, though not before he’s punched a few suspects and been tasered himself! Things don’t get too repetitive as a station stop before the explosion allows the action to completely change as Colter gets off the train, although he can’t continue in the source code if the train still blows up, even if he’s not on the train, because as the creator of the source code machine explains (Jeffrey Wright), it’s not a time travel machine. The present can’t be changed by altering the past, because Colter is not really in the past. The action is also broken up by Colter’s time between visits inside the isolation pod, and we discover there’s more to what’s going on than we are at first told.

I’ll stop at that point because the logic of ‘Source Code’, as far as I can tell, is all over the place. I really enjoyed the movie, I undertstood what was happening at the time, but as soon as I questioned any of the source code plot points, my head began to hurt and I could feel the plot unravelling quicker than Charlie Sheen. As far as I can tell, ‘Source Code’ is sci-fi of the highest order because not only is the concept so far away from our scientific reality, but even if it could work, it’s riddled with holes. I can’t go into detail here as I’d have to talk about things in the film I don’t wish to, but unless I’m wrong, how can Colter alter the eight minutes before the train explodes if it’s not real? If he was actually time-travelling, you could accept it, but we’re explicitly told he’s not. Hmmm…

Anyway, apart from serving up a thrillingly bonkers and exciting movie, director Duncan Jones (Moon) and writer Ben Ripley really want you to connect with Colter and his growing affection for Christina. Every time he goes inside the source code, Colter gets to fall for Christina a bit more, and you just know that he’s going to try and save her life before the end of the film, even though she’s dead. Their relationship gives the movie it’s heart, and Michelle Monaghan plays it sweet and funny while Gyllenhaal is incredibly physical but is still able to show a gentler side with Christina. Vera Farmiga also gets to vary her authority-figure performance as emotions ride high.

Duncan Jones made a huge impression with ‘Moon’ (2009) and ‘Source Code’ only further enhances his skill at handling a complex, exciting film. I can’t quite see a style emerging from the two movies yet (theme-wise, the question of identity is used in both – does the former Zowie Bowie (Duncan Jones is David Bowie’s son) have a subconcious hang-up with jis own identity?), but I’ll give him a chance to develop the ‘Jones’ look (aren’t I generous, ha, ha).

There aren’t many special effects in the film, so don’t worry if you don’t like to be battered by flying pixels. ‘Source Code’ feels very much like the film Hitchcock would be making today if he was young (and alive). I’m sure the opening credits must be a nod to the great master, because we’re treated to lots of overhead shots of Chicago and the surrounding landscape set to a musical score that is (deliberately?) reminiscent of Bernard Herrmann’s classic ‘North by Northwest’ score. Very intense, very urgent, and very dramatic. All we’re missing are Saul Bass-style graphics whizzing across the screen.

If you do go and see ‘Source Code’ when it’s released, be aware that if you catch a train home afterwards you might feel a little bit more nervous than usual. After all, you just spent ninety-three minutes watching a train blow up over and over again. Boom… boom… boom… boom…!

FOUR OUT OF FIVE