It didn't take long. One film to be exact, for Duncan Jones to plant his flag firmly as the sci-fi director to beat. Moon
, his deeply engrossing, hard science fiction debut thrived on a shoe-string budget and an otherworldly performance by Sam Rockwell which should've earned an Oscar nomination. Source Code sticks with Jones' favored genre, but encompasses so much more. It's equally as intelligent as Moon, yet has more action and excitement than any mainstream thriller we've seen recently. If Moon told us that Jones' future as a director was a bright one, Source Code proves that future is here right now. Jake Gyllenhaal and his puppy dog eyes make for the perfect leading man for this type of flick, where his ability to be both charming and physically imposing are a necessity. He's Captain Colter Stevens, a decorated war vet who has just woken up into a mission unlike any he's ever been a part of. Shaking off the cobwebs, Colter finds himself a passenger on a train, face-to-face with a beautiful woman named Christina(Michelle Monaghan), and a deep unease settling inside him. She speaks to him as if they're old friends, but his mind's a blank. Before he can figure out what's going on, the train suddenly explodes, and he's whisked away into what appears to be the cockpit of a ship. His only line of communication is with the buttoned up military analyst(Vera Farmiga) on the monitor, barking questions and orders with a dangerous haste.
What the heck is going on? Colter eventually figures out that he's hard wired into the 'source code', an experimental creation which allows his consciousness to be transported into the body of a dead person for the last eight minutes of their life. Colter's mission is to figure out what happened on that train: How it blew up; Who did it; and if the next one can be stopped. The bombing is just the first part of a terrorist attack. Through repeated attempts, Colter is forced to relive a fiery demise, watching the people he gets to know bit by bit burning in front of him. Think the most hellish version of Groundhog Day imaginable.
Duncan Jones has proven to be a director full of novel concepts, and a snappy script by Ben Ripley only aids him in this.The idea behind the source code technology, which is way too wonky to get in to here, is both genius and crazy enough to have fun with. Yet the design is delightfully old school, not quite retro in the way Moon's technology was, but modern and not at all futuristic.
The film works best when Colter is a man on a mission, diligently trying to work out the mechanics of his situation in his mind. His attitude towards the people around him, especially Christina, is a mercurial thing. It shifts with his mood and the more he learns about the source code itself. He sees her and the other passengers as victims, pawns, and ultimately something far more by the end of the film. It's really quite amazing to see that type of development in such an action heavy flick. Other than Jeffrey Wright as the source code inventor, Dr. Rutledge, everyone involved gets their moment to shine. It's crazy how good Vera Farmiga has become in such a short time playing wildly different roles. Her part here isn't showy, but she makes it crucial. When the film falters is when it slows down and gives us time to think too hard about what's going on. Not that there are plot holes, but there are some loose strands here and there that could be pulled. Also, Colter goes through a period of time where he completely loses track of the mission, and seeks to complete a more personal goal. While this stuff makes sense, considering Colter is a soldier looking to do save everyone he can, what it ends up looking like is Colter scoring brownie points with Christina. His lack of urgency is pretty hard to ignore and a drag on the story's momentum. You'd think that seeing the same scenario replayed over and over would get repetitive, but it never does thanks to some clever slight of hand with the script. Sure, we get the stuff you'd expect, like Colter getting bored and telling Christina everything that will happen a moment before it does, but it actually serves a purpose in completing his mission.
The ending could've come a few minutes earlier. There's a pretty clear attempt to wrap everything up a bit too neatly for my taste, but the journey getting there is so much fun it doesn't matter. Source Code is simply amazing, and a blast from start to finish. If Hitchcock were around today, these are the types of thrillers he'd be championing. Be it indie or mainstream, Duncan Jones has proven he's got the touch.
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