Source Code (2011)

Written by Ben Ripley
Directed by Duncan Jones

Duncan Jones made the sleeper hit Moon a few years back which I'm quite fond of, so I got excited when his new film came out in wider release. Source Code is quite different from his first film, more mainstream in a modern action thriller kind of way. I'm sure the writer pitched it as Speed with a brain.

Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up in the body of someone else, in the middle of a conversation with someone he doesn't know. When the train he's on blows up, Colter wakes up in his own body, confused, only remember his last mission with his military convoy, fearing for their safety.

The labyrinth plot unfolds from here, and although it never gets too smart on us, at the same time it's clever, and keeps the viewer thinking throughout the runtime, making a detective of anyone watching it. Movies like this seems to be farther and fewer between, movies that know which genre its in, and bask freely in the light. Source Code is unabashedly science fiction, with enough roots in reality to win over the casual fan, as will the A-list talent.

Jones is an assured storyteller, he only gives the viewer tiny pieces, but he knows exactly when to give them and that they'll all tie up in the end. Too many sci-fi stories can't do this and either end up being a meandering mess (The Matrix series), or an F/X laden CGI-fest that doesn't make any damn sense (2012, or any Roland Emmerich film really). His talent for revealing only what needs to be revealed next is what allows him to keep a tight grip on his plot as it begins to wind out of control toward the end.

All the actors may be known, but none of them give a particularly great performance. Most of the more well known actors actually seemed to sleepwalk a bit through their roles. I don't know if this is because of a lack of direction, or a defiance of direction, but the acting isn't on the same level as it was in Moon. Most seemed like they knew they were in an action movie, and that's as far as they wanted to go with that.

However the clever screenplay keeps things entertaining, the story is well paced and moves along nicely. It's refreshing to see an entertaining, intelligent, original sci-fi screenplay get produced, and the fact that it was made pretty cheap helps its cause. Duncan Jones remains a director to be watched, the question is will he do another sci-fi film (his previously announced Mute, which is having funding issues?) or will he be forced by the economic tide to change things up a bit?

9.0/10 (A-)