Movie Review Source Code

Source Code (2011) 

Directed by Duncan Jones

Written by Ben Ripley

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Jeffrey Wright, Vera Farmiga

Release Date April 20th, 2011

Published April 19th, 2011

The less you know going into "Source Code," the more you will enjoy it. "Source Code" is an ingenious sci-fi thriller that delivers surprises that seem nearly impossible in the age of the spoiler alert. Directed by Duncan Jones and starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan, "Source Code" is an early candidate for year end best of lists.

Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up on a Chicago commuter train disoriented and very confused. The woman in the seat across from him, Christina (Michele Monaghan) looks at him as if she knows who he is but she calls him by a different name. None of the other passengers seem familiar. Finally, when he gets to the mirror in the bathroom he finds a face he does not recognize.

Then, the train explodes and Colter is fired to another reality. Now, he is strapped to a seat inside some kind of pod. Over an unseen intercom a woman's voice begins quizzing him about what he had seen on the train. Slowly, Colter begins to recognize the commands he is being given.

There has been a terrorist attack on a Chicago commuter train and 100 people on board are dead. It is Colter's mission to go back to that train before the bomb goes off and find and identify the bomber and report back to the voice on the intercom, Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) and her boss Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright.)

To tell you more than that, the very basic description of the opening minutes of "Source Code" threatens to rob you of the joys of this terrifically crafted sci-fi thriller. "Source Code" is about plot, it's about confusion and it's about shocking clarifications. Director Duncan Jones and writer Ben Ripley unfold the plot of "Source Code" with the clever twistiness of a young M.Night Shyamalan.

Source Code is a time travel movie and the time travel aspect is a lot of fun. Duncan Jones and his team create their own time travel rules and employ those rules to create nail biting suspense. We and Jake Gyllenhaal's Colter know what the rules are but most of the other characters don't and that creates a terrific tension as the everyday people Colter is trying to rescue become his accidental antagonists. 

Jake Gyllenhaal, Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright commit completely to the notions of "Source Code" and their investment in the plot and in their individual characters sells all of the pseudo science as a believable plot. Either you buy what these actors are selling or you don't. I bought it and I loved "Source Code."

The crafty plotting and terrific cast of "Source Code" create a thrilling and fun movie going experience. Do not let anyone spoil the plot for you and you may love "Source Code" even more than I did and I had far too many clues going in and still was blown away. "Source Code" is an excellent movie.