Sci-fi thriller from British director Duncan "son of David Bowie" Jones (Moon).
When decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up in the body of an unknown man, he discovers he's part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train. In the bizarre assignment, he learns he's part of a government experiment called the "Source Code": a program that enables him to cross over into another man's identity in the last eight minutes of his life. With a second, much larger target threatening to kill millions in downtown Chicago, Colter re-lives the incident over and over again, gathering clues each time, until he can solve the mystery of who is behind the bombs and prevent the next attack.
Duncan Jones’ follow-up to his excellent sci-fi debut, Moon, is a simple yet satisfying thriller that keeps the mind ticking and bats away suspicions that the director might be a one-trick pony. Geared towards a more mainstream crowd (a good thing!), the slick Source Code works as an entertaining, intelligent puzzle.
I'm not going to give any plot details away here because part of the film’s appeal is that one finds out what’s happening at the same time as the hero. In this case it’s Jake Gyllenhaal’s Captain Stevens, who wakes up in someone else’s body on board a train that explodes eight minutes later. Gyllenhaal, as always, is extremely likable and empathetic and whilst his character might not be as finely drawn as Zodiac’s Robert Graysmith or Donnie Darko, Stevens remains a charismatic presence throughout.
Jones’ film is impeccably constructed and tightly focussed. As Stevens wakes up time and time again, the same events play out from different angles and with various consequences. The train carriage acts as a confined and claustrophobic place where the action plays out. In fact, the whole thing is told so economically that the last section of the film can’t help but slacken slightly and the end is not as interesting as the way in which the film started out. Regardless, two films into his career and Jones seems to be etching out a foothold in high-concept, modest storytelling.
By Andrew Hedley, Flicks.co.nz
'Inception' meets 'Groundhog Day', but this film lacks the intelligence of the former and doesn't achieve the variety of the latter. A decent enough concept but shambolicly executed, resulting in a rambling yawn. It doesn't take long to see where the film is going and from there you just want to shout at them to get on with it. Thinks it's far more clever than it really is. Became numbing to watch.
Better than expected
I like how Jake Gyllenhaal played his role as well as the other cast. Scary in a way, he has to re-live the victims deaths over & over again just to find a threat. He learns his own dark secret & he falls for his co star character as she is the only one he connects to on the train. its not a cliffhanger but more a breath of fresh air in terms of a who did it Sci Fi Thriller.
An entertaining ride. Nothing mind-blowing, but good nonetheless. Jake Gyllenhaal was great.
Great movie, cleverly mastered ending. I enjoyed it :)
An ingenious thriller that comes billed as science fiction, although its science is preposterous.
An exciting, intellectually stimulating science-fiction thriller which also connects emotionally. Everyone involved earns a promotion to the premiership.
The movie boils down to one character, acting under enormous pressures of space and time, racing to solve a mystery. In this case, that may be good enough.
Rare sci-fi thriller of brains and heart
The Moon man returns to Earth with a clever, classy and affecting thriller that never goes off the rails. If Bowie isn’t careful, he’ll soon be better known as “Duncan Jones’s father”...
We've been told the NZ release date for this flick is Thursday, 5th May 2011.
Release date: May 5th 2011.
We haven't received times for this movie in this location yet. However these are updated as cinemas announce them, so check back soon. Hopefully the lovely cinemas in your location will choose to play it shortly. ~Ed.
