Review: Source Code
When you've made an amazing first feature, it's hard to live up to it with your next movie. I am already hearing people fuss that Source Code, the new film directed by Duncan Jones, isn't as good as Moon, his feature directorial debut. Let's be frank: It's not. But you know what? It doesn't matter. Judging this movie on its own terms, it's a terrific ride.
It's hard not to think about other movies while watching Source Code, though. One of my colleagues described it as "Deja Vu meets Groundhog Day." Well, I liked both those movies, and while Source Code does fit that description ... what did I just say about judging a movie on its own terms? Thank you.
Source Code opens with wide shots of a train, accompanied by the kind of music that might remind you of a Hitchcock thriller or a Seventies heist movie. Yes, I've just invoked two more movie comparisons. Try to keep up. Jake Gyllenhaal's character wakes up on the commuter train and is terribly confused ... he's getting used to the setting at the same time we are. The woman across the aisle says she's his girlfriend Christina (Michelle Monaghan) and that his name is Sean, but he thinks he's someone else. And while he's trying to work it all out --
The question is, how much of this movie do I want to give away to you? I saw Source Code without watching any trailers beforehand, without having any clue of what I was getting into except for the actors' names and the filmmaker. The less you know about this movie, the better. You might want to stop here and go see the movie. Or you can go on to the next paragraph, which I promise won't spoil the plot but will reveal the rest of the setup.
It turns out that Gyllenhaal's character is Captain Colton Stevens, a soldier on a special experimental mission. He's being guided primarily by Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga), with help from her supervisor Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright). Stevens is being somehow propelled into a memory from a guy named Sean who was on a train that was bombed, and Goodwin and Rutledge want him to go back into that memory again and again until he can figure out who the bomber was, and how he can be tracked down before he commits more terrorist acts. While inside the memory, as Sean, Stevens can act in any way he likes, and the other people in the memory interact with him.
Source Code is at its heart a suspense thriller and love story, with splashes of science fiction to keep you on your toes. Jones and screenwriter Ben Ripley focus on giving us two good strong characters that absorb our attention and keep the movie interesting, then support them with a good solid story. Gyllenhaal plays Stevens with just the right note: an Everyman of a soldier, wanting to do his duty but also wanting other, more human things and naturally suspicious of his predicament. Vera Farmiga is a standout here -- if parts of this movie recall a 70s thriller, she's the Faye Dunaway equivalent, capable and clever but not without an emotional side. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast isn't quite on the same level -- I can't understand the appeal of Monaghan's character at all, and Jeffrey Wright is practically coasting through the movie in a very standard role.
The science fiction is the kind that may not seem believable after the movie ends, when you argue about it over drinks with a group of friends who want to reference every time-travel-related book and film from the past hundred years. And believe me, you will want to plan for one of those after-movie sessions to argue about the ending at least. During the movie, however, it doesn't matter. This is the science the characters have for the universe they're in, and they believe it, and that's sufficient.
I'm a little sorry Source Code is in theaters now, instead of July when we could use a smart, grown-up thriller as an antidote to blockbuster sequels and remakes. Still, at any time of year, it's refreshing and enjoyable.