Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan and Vera Farmiga
Directed by: Duncan Jones
Written by: Ben Ripley
Normally I try my best to review movies that are coming out the same weekend as the review. For the most part it makes sense. However, given that this weekend’s offerings were Water for Elephants (with that lame ass twinkly guy from Twilight), a film called African Cats (which I assume is about lions and such) and yet another Madea film (I haven’t seen any of them so why start with this one?) I decided to dip back a couple weeks with a film I had not yet seen but really wanted to.
Director Duncan Jones thoroughly impressed me with his feature debut, the exceptional movie Moon. I was hesitant about his sophomoric effort as I knew that Moon would be a hard act to follow. Like the aforementioned film, Source Code is also a science fiction film though it is very different.
For those that weren’t already aware of the premise, Source Code is about a soldier, Colter Stevens (Gyllenhaal). Under the guidance of an Air Force officer, Colleen Goodwin (Farmiga) and Colter investigates a terrorist attack on a train from earlier that day. He does this through an unconventional method called Source Code. This allows Colter to experience the last 8 minutes of the life of someone that was on that train over and over in an attempt to identify the bomber. During his submersion in Source Code, Colter meets Christina (Monaghan) whom he becomes determined to save.
Essentially you can sort of thinking of it as being a little bit like Groundhog Day meets 12 Monkeys. Both are films I love so that works for me.
Duncan Jones has shown how capable he can be with Moon. The film had (for the film world) a very small budget. He also only used a handful of actors. And what he was able to craft with those resources was nothing short of miraculous as well as one of the finest sci-fi films in years. I was very curious to see what he could do with a larger budget.
One thing that struck me is that nothing is wasted. Everything left in the final film serves a purpose. There is nothing grandiose or ostentatious as is so common in Hollywood films these days. This is a lesson I assume he learned from Moon’s minimalist approach. When dealing with a made up science it can become very easy for things to get muddled. Jones is able to deliver everything in a very straight forward and accessible fashion.
Jones is also very good at getting a strong performance out of his actors. Sam Rockwell in Moon was nothing short of spectacular. In Source Code he did nearly the impossible—not only did he make Jake Gyllenhaal watchable for me (Sorry, I’ve just never been that impressed with him as an actor. And unlike the rest of the cinematic world I’m not in love with Donnie Darko. I did not like that movie. At all. Blasphemy I know, but I don’t care.), but he also made him likeable. Although her role was essential if rather one dimensional for the most part I thought Vera Farmiga was great (not to mention she’s a stone cold fox). And Michelle Monaghan added a depth that was not only imperative to the films story, but was also very accessible.
The film itself was billed as something of a sci-fi/action film. There really isn’t enough action in it to fully embrace that title though. However, I did appreciate that this is a sci-fi film that takes place in the here and now.
The film’s only major flaw was something small and likely inconsequential, but it did still bothered me. As with any science fiction film, the actual science involved is paramount to the story. And the concept of Source Code is a fascinating one. However, when how it works is addressed in the film I can’t help but feel that the answer given is incomplete, as though the screenwriter had this brilliant idea to base the movie on but no idea how to explain it. That’s fine, he’s not a scientist and we don’t need to know how it works in order to see the movie and enjoy it. It just bothers me that the science behind it is rendered irrelevant. Was it enough to ruin the movie for me? Not by a long shot.
All in all I found Source Code to be a solid and enjoyable film. I don’t, however, think that it really shows us what Duncan Jones is capable of doing. To that end I’m hoping that his project called Mute is next on his plate. Mute has been described as being “Blade Runner-esque,” or at least inspired by it. That I cannot wait to see. In the interim however, Jones has shown that there is no sophomore slump to his directing career. I give it four beers.
