Over the Moon - Source Code

This review has been written so late you might have missed your chance to see Source Code in cinemas but it’ll be well worth buying the DVD.

Director: Duncan Jones

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright

Rating: EEEEE

I do believe this is my first five E rated film of the year. King’s Speech got close with four and a half, but Source Code has the edge because it completely took me by surprise. From the trailer, to me, this looked like another average action thriller set on a train, much in the vein of Pelham 123 or Unstoppable. However I should have had more faith in Duncan Jones having seen and loved his debut film, the very original and intelligent Moon.

The Plot:

Gyllenhaal plays Captain Colter Stevens, a former Air Force helicopter pilot now working for a secretive government agency using the Source Code to fight terrorism. The Source Code is a device invented by Dr. Rutlage, Wright, where with instruction from Goodwin, Farmiga,  Capt. Stevens can inhabit the body of a recent terrorist casualty and re-live the last ten minutes of their lives, in this case, a commuter on a train heading to Chicago. Capt. Stevens must repeatedly use those final few minutes to identify the bomber so as to prevent future attacks. However unsure if Dr. Rutlage knows what he has created Stevens believes he can use to Source Code to alter the past and save his fellow passengers, in particular Christina Warren, Monaghan.

The main reason I was apprehensive about Source Code was because unlike Moon, Source Code was not a Duncan Jones project, he was merely a director for hire. The worry being sometimes if a director is brought to an existing project, It’s not their story and they may not be able to add the subtlety and nuance they want. Also the producer may want to churn the film through the tried and tested Hollywood money making machine rather than risk something a bit different and produce a piece of art.

With Source Code however, Gyllenhaal and the Producer Mark Gordon obviously chose Jones exactly for the qualities he exemplified in Moon. You can see through Gyllenhaal’s performance, Jones is a director he’s comfortable with.

Of course with Jones, nothing is as it seems. So although the trailer make you think you’ve seen the whole thing there’s another sub-plot which make you question the motives of some of the background characters. Thus with some clever camera work reminiscent of Kubrick’s 2001 and HAL, you're left wary of the Source Code itself. But there’s also a lighter hearted side to the film for those who were fans of Quantum Leap, an early 90’s TV show with similarities to Source Code which it’s nice to see Jones acknowledges.

One of the main challenges Source Code faces is the Rashamon effect: repeating the same sequence again and again. However through great performances and a great script with self-referential remarks Source Code is never boring and constantly reveals more to you, but still is able to constantly keep you guessing.