Moon was a huge success for Duncan Jones. A fantastic movie and we all waited with baited breath to see what he would do next, and would it be a big pile of steaming shite or success. Well baited breath fans, I can safely say it’s the later that springs to mind.
Source code is an action thriller but it’s not exactly straight forward. While you won’t struggle to explain it as much as you did Inception, Source Code still demands your attention. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Colter Stevens who wakes up in the body of an unknown man (no…not like that you perverts, this ain’t Brokeback train station) who happens to be on board a commuter train to Chicago, which blows up killing everyone on board. Steven’s relives the last 8 minutes of his “host”, a school teacher, time and time again until he find’s the bomb and ultimately the bomber. Said bomber has also promised to level Chicago with a dirty bomb. So while Steven’s gets as many goes (ala a videogame) and unravelling the mystery, time is running out in the real world, per se.
That’s the story and Duncan Jones has executed Ben Ripley’s script pretty awesomely. A movie that essentially play’s the same scene over and over again needs alot of talent behind it to keep it engaging. A Gyllenhaal and Jones pull this off brilliantly. The scene and everything around it changes ever so slightly each time and until the bomber is identified, you are eyeing up each passenger on the train yourself trying to figure out who it might be, even though it’s a little bit obvious.
Jake Gyllenhaal is instantly likeable and this character has plenty of development as we learn more and more about him. His on screen counterparts Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan) and Vera Farmiga (Colleen Goodwin) do an equally convincing job, particularly Farmiga who’s hard nosed military stance get’s less and less hard nosed.
Source Code moves at a great pace and at times, it’s real edge of the seat stuff as Chicago beckons itself for demolition. Duncan Jones has cemented himself as a decent director with his follow up feature and Gyllenhaal is far more suited to these kind of roles than, say, Prince Of Persia. Overall, this is a quality chunk of an intelli-buster and one of the best movies of the year!!! Check it!! Oh, and expect a little mind bending ending!
Director: Duncan Jones
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Vera Farmiga
Running Time: 93 minutes
Certificate: 12A IRE/ 12A UK
Released: April 1st, 2011
