Source Code – review
Following the massive critical acclaim earned by Duncan Jones for his debut directorial feature Moon, the profound sci-fi story of isolation in space, the man previously famous for being David Bowie’s son is back with the time-loop blockbuster Source Code.
Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Captain Colter Stevens; a soldier who seemingly wakes up on a train in the body of another man unaware what on earth is going on. When the train he is on blows up, he finds himself transported into a capsule and speaking to government agent Goodwin [Vera Farmiga] on a video link. He is informed that he is on a mission to discover the identity of the bomber on the commuter train.
While Captain Stevens is still trying to understand what just happened to him and where he is, Goodwin tells him that all he needs to know is that he is to find the bomber in the “Source Code” (the last eight minutes of memory of one of the train attack’s fatalities) in order to prevent an imminent bomb threat on another train bound for Chicago, primed for maximum chaos and civilian casualties.
The government’s experimental anti-terror weapon allows Stevens access to the “memory” multiple times, experiencing the environment this particular victim – teacher Sean Fentress – experiences in the build up to the attack, like tapping into a malleable crime scene and solving it like a computer game.
Before Stevens can ask too many questions, he is sent back into the Source Code, waking up again on the train – this time with awareness of the scenario – initially mirroring the type of repetition comedy of Groundhog Day, especially as he flirts with the fellow commuter opposite him, Christina [Michelle Monaghan].
What starts out as a premise like a concoction of sci-fi crime thrillers Minority Report and Déjà Vu, soon develops into a philosophical and moral conundrum, sparked by the Stevens’ desire to “save” the already-dead passengers from the Source Code, in particular Christina, who he develops an attraction for.
The inventor of the program, Dr Rutledge [Jeffrey Wright], becomes frustrated with Stevens’ questions and lack of comprehension of the doomed nature of his co-passengers in the recurrent eight minute experience. All Rutledge cares about is the end game of stopping the next bomb and the glory of the potential success of his invention, not sympathising with the extremely difficult position Stevens finds himself in and the physical and mental torment the mission causes the brave soldier.
Like Moon, this story explores themes of desolation and reality in a futuristic Philip K Dick-type-world, amidst questioning of governmental conscience and Gyllenhaal almost matches the troubling emotive performance of Sam Rockwell in Jones’ previous film.
Source Code hinges on the integral eight minutes of digitalised, manipulatable memory, but as the film unravels, the scope of the eight minutes concept opens up to enter the realms of parallel universes; a mind-bending subject explored in Donnie Darko; the cult film that launched Jake Gyllenhaal’s career. It is a thrilling and touching movie that snowballs beyond gimmicky sci-fi action flick to poignant, philosophical suspense-thriller and confirms the status of Duncan Jones as one of the most exciting directors working today.
Source Code (12A)
Directed by Duncan Jones
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright, Russell Peters
Running time: 94 minutes
Source Code is showing at the Rio Cinema until 7 April.