Caching up on DVD: Source Code Review

Captain Colter Stevens and Christina Warren prepare to be blown up in Source Code

Source Code

B+

A review by Frederick Cholowski

2 years ago new director Duncan Jones jumped onto the scene with the amazing film Moon. Now he has a bigger budget, another solid cast, and another twisted sci-fi storyline. Jones has a great creative vision and a passion for sci-fi and it shows in Source Code. While not quite as good as Moon, Source Code is still both more innovative and intelligent than most other films in the sci-fi genre.

Source Code follows Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) who right at the beginning of the film finds himself on a train as another person. Before he has any time to collect what is happening the train explodes killing everyone on board. He then wakes up in a capsule and being talked to by one of the leaders of the operation Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga). Apparently Stevens is a pawn in the Source Code experiment. The U.S. government is concerned about the train bombing because they think that it will lead to another bombing in Chicago. Stevens goes to an alternate reality version of the train incident for 8 minutes disguised as a teacher to try and find the bomber.

Source Code is a very fast paced thriller. At only 93 minutes long Source Code goes by in an instant well still developing the plot and characters. It gives you the since of frantic desperation as not only is Captain Stevens being forced to race against time, but he has to find out what is going on in the process. The main problem with the film is the ending. All the way up to about the last 20 minutes the film is fast pace and frantic. Then it slows down rapidly into an ending that doesn’t work for me at all.

Performances are solid across the board here. Gyllenhaal is actually quite impressive here compared to prior performances. Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, and Jeffery Wright are all solid here. No one stands out for better or for worse.

The real standouts here are the cinematography and direction. The way the Camera moves gives off the right feel at any time. When we need to feel rushed we feel rushed. When Stevens is in the capsule it feels cramped and claustrophobic. The direction works well with a mix of quick cuts and lingering shots. It gives off a very sleek and modern feel a change from the older feel of Moon.

Source Code is a good action thriller. It’s fast paced and a lot of fun. While the ending is unsatisfying and the performances unmemorable the good greatly out ways the bad. In two films Duncan Jones has managed to establish himself as one of the premier young talents of the last couple of years. He brings a breath of fresh air to sci-fi and I cannot wait for what he tries next.