Certain films beg comparison of others. “Source Code” screams out to be a hybrid of “12 Monkeys,” “Vantage Point,” “Eternal Sunshine,” “Unstoppable” and of all things, “Groundhog Day.” But Duncan Jones directs the film with such flair and vigor that it supersedes all comparisons.
On paper, the story begins to show its flaws, and the science of the Source Code apparatus that governs the events of the film fails to indicate how complex first time screenwriter Ben Ripley’s work is.
Much of the film takes place in eight-minute intervals aboard a metro train in Chicago, and the first eight minutes of the film are arguably the best. After soaring over Chicago’s skyline, Jones dumps a lost and confused Jake Gyllenhaal onto a train across from a woman he doesn’t recognize. His ramblings and pleading that he is Captain Colter Stevens, currently serving a tour of duty in Afghanistan, makes no sense to Christina (Michelle Monaghan), who believes and sees him to be Sean Fentress. When he looks in the bathroom mirror, he sees a reflection other than himself, and before he can juggle all the other details of the situation, the train explodes.
After some flashes of light and Millennium Park’s Bean, Stevens wakes harnessed in a cold, dark pod. The firm, but somewhat soothing voice of Vera Farmiga informs him of little and quickly recycles him into the same eight minutes to locate the bomb and bomber who destroyed the train and killed hundreds.
The brilliant thing about “Source Code” however is how Jones treats each time and place within the film. We soon learn that Stevens’ actions within the pod define “reality,” and the film carries strong themes questioning the nature of existence and what appear to be dual realities. In that pretense, it falls in line with other classic sci-fi’s that have considered the same dilemma.
But a lesser film would isolate one world as an A-story, the other as a B-plot. Jones’ editing and cinematography style is similar in each setting, and the stories within each are critical to the whole. Whether Stevens ultimately catches the terrorist bomber is essentially a MacGuffin, but his actions within that alternate reality are not.
We legitimately care what goes on in each world because of Jones’ attention to detail. On the train, the repetition of events and details is captured through quick, yet steady edits, and in the “real world” we are given a lack of the same detail without any less of the pacing.
Jones in fact takes quite a few pages from his debut film and sci-fi “Moon,” starring Sam Rockwell. That film too considered the existence of a man and his feeling of futility in his use as a tool. “Moon” is a study in minimalism when the only voice we hear besides Rockwell’s is the robotic voice of Kevin Spacey. For some time, we only see Farmiga and her boss, played coldly and chillingly by Jeffrey Wright, through a video screen, and Jones is capable of carrying that skillful ambiguity throughout the film.
The ending is far from a let down, but rather than end with bittersweet uncertainty the way “Moon” does, the events of “Source Code” are tidier. But it’s not a downside because Jones weaves such a rich, well-crafted and overall fun tapestry to reach that destination.
Jones’ directing and Ripley’s screenplay are the driving forces behind “Source Code’s” success, but Gyllenhaal is quite good in the lead role. I had forgotten how comfortable he could seem on screen in films like “Brokeback Mountain” and “Zodiac.” This is the action hero role he’s been seeking without sacrificing his own youthful fragility.
“Source Code” is perhaps not as precise or mind-bending as a lot of the sci-fi’s to which it has been compared, but with its own energy it finds its own identity, making it one of the most original and interesting films of the year.
3 ½ stars