As part of an experiment that a man can 'leap' into another man's body in the past, Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal; Love and Other Drugs, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time) went back in time. Awaking to find himself trapped in the past, Colter faces a mirror image that is not his own. Driven by Dr. Rutledge's (Jeffrey Wright; Quantum of Solace, Cadillac Records) experiment to change history for the better. His only guide in this experiment is Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga; Up In The Air, Orphan) an officer in the US army and his only connection to the real world. So Colter Stevens 'leaps' back and forth, striving to put right what once went wrong and hoping his next 'leap', will be the 'leap' home.
Source Code admittedly (and no more so than by the filmmakers themselves) owes more than a little to the cult 90's sci-fi series Quantum Leap. However the timeframe between each 'leap' is a little more confined than the one hour series gave its audience. Having just 8 minutes to stop a bomb from exploding on a train, Coulter Stevens finds himself inhabiting the body of a teacher, and is awoken to find a beautiful female colleague, Christina (Michelle Monaghan; Due Date, Eagle Eye) gazing at him lovingly and at the same time bewildered by the actions of the man she thought she knew so well.
Duncan Jones makes a welcome return to the big screen after his critically acclaimed, award winning debut, Moon with a similarly clever take on a science-fiction subgenre. Dubbed as this year's Inception (probably alongside every other sci-fi action movie this year) Source Code does live up to its flattering comparison. However for those fearing confusion over the complexity of the plot, may be relieved to know that there are smaller leaps of imagination, but dealt with just as impressively and one of the more intelligent movies they are likely to see this year.
Time travel is a difficult subject to deal with (however not so much for China lately who have banned such related movies), going back and forth to further progress the plot and development of the characters can be repetitive and boring if not dealt with correctly. Duncan Jones realises this and after a couple of flashes back to the past, the action is condensed (this is not Groundhog Day so you do not need to see the same footage over and over) and the story is progressed in a clever way that shows Coulter's mission change as he learns the right, and the wrong way to complete his ultimate goal.
Jake Gyllenhaal is a good leading man, he adds the drama, action, romance and sometimes comedy that is needed for the soldier stuck in an experiment whose purpose in life is to save hundreds of others. As the plot thickens, the science fiction element goes into darker territory (slightly highlighted by the Terry Gilliam-esque location of the experiment) and the audience is forced to re-evaluate the movie as a whole. The movie you go in to see will not be the one you come out from seeing.
This makes the whole experience of the movie all the more satisfying. Rather than nonsensical endings or plot twists shoehorned in to try and make something more of the movie than is actually there, Jones asks the audience to question the movie's intentions and keeps them intrigued as to where the movie is going, and as to whether it's going to go the way the audience may have expected.
Opposite the charming leading man is the equally charming leading lady (Monaghan) who also gives the drama, romance and comedy that is needed in such short time frames and makes the relationship and romance believable in the man she thought she knew so well. Also the superb supporting cast of Farmiga and Wright helps give the audience many venues of interest, particularly Dr. Rutledge, the scientist on the brink of a breakthrough who will stop at nothing to carry out his ideals.
Hopefully this will not be the last in the line of intelligent, thought provoking movies by Duncan Jones. A director who in such a small time has proven himself as being able to capture an audience and to give them everything they want, and maybe some things they didn't expect. With all the epic movies and CGI spectaculars in the cinema this year (and every year it seems) it's nice to see a movie like this pulling in a larger audience and keeping them there and at the same time giving them a more enriching movie experience. One day, perhaps movies like this will not have to be dressed up to impress an audience, but while they are, there's no harm in making an audience think.
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