Source Code is an intelligent and exciting action thriller. The movie does not shy away from its clever, intriguing science fiction premise, and truly embraces its nifty, nutty concept and runs it all the way to its logical conclusion. The cast is perfectly chosen from Jake Gyllenhaal as the soldier hero to Michelle Monaghan as a plucky, potential love interest. The supporting cast is also very good. Source Code picks up the pace and never looks back with a lot of tense, suspenseful moments and some kick-ass action scenes.
Jake Gyllenhall stars as Captain Colter Stevens. Stevens wakes up in the body of another man aboard a communter train and realizes gradually that he has just 8 minutes to find out who blew up the commuter train and prevent another attack from happening through an experiment called source code. It allows the Captain to enter the body of another person for the last 8 minutes of their life. The confused Captain must keep going back into source code until he completes his mission. Each new trip back takes on some interesting nuance and the film is kind of a science fiction Groundhog Day with shades of the television series Quantum Leap as well. It’s a tribute to director Duncan Jones (who made a splash with the indie movie Moon a few years back) that none of this feels contrived or confusing. The movie even has some depth as it plays with time and space and asks questions of a military industrial complex that cares very little for the health and well-being of soldiers in general. Those issues matter not to those who just want a good action ride though, Source Code provides that as well. Compelling, playfully profound and always exciting, Source Code is one of the best movies of 2011 so far.
Grade: A-
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