Source Code (2011)
I saw this movie, surprisingly, in cinemas before I got hold of it through torrenting. I have a very good friend to thank me for that. I loved this movie from the first watch, and I love it even more after the second.
Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up on a commuter train he doesn’t remember boarding, with a woman (Michelle Monaghan) he doesn’t remember knowing, and in a body that doesn’t belong to him. 8 minutes later, the train explodes.
I’ll actually leave that synopsis there, because in all honesty, writing any more makes the film sound stupid, and it is anything but. Sure, Source Code is pretty much your typical action thriller, but it’s a very well-paced, brilliantly thought out work. I will just tell you now, that anything I mention in here that sounds like a spoiler isn’t one. If you watch the trailer you pretty much find out exactly what’s going on. The main twist and beauty of this film hits in the last 20 minutes, and believe me, I won’t spoil you for that.
The beauty and tragedy of Source Code, in my opinion, is that it sets an average person into a situation he can’t control. In this case, he can’t control it at all. Colter is sent to the train over and over to look first for the bomb, and then the bomber, knowing full well that he can’t save the people who had died there. He goes through the motions, over and over, always gaining some new piece of knowledge along the way, but also getting to know the people that he knows he can’t save. It’s painful to think about, because that is exactly the kind of helplessness that people feel when they are on the phone to their friend who is in a country that was just struck by tragedy; sitting for hours on the phone hitting the redial button over and over and not knowing what happened or if they will ever speak to their friend again. I’ve been there.
Maybe it’s because of this realistic situation that I loved the film so much. Sure, the source code itself doesn’t exist yet – and I am so ignorant of anything to do with physics that I won’t even venture a guess as to whether it ever could – but the tragedies and the people do. We know them. We are them.
The special effects are fantastic. They’re only as advanced as they need to be, in my opinion. A lot of the action happens on the train or in the capsule that Colter keeps waking up to. The only thing that required any form of SFX were the countless explosions that Colter had to live through. I remember there was one in particular that broke my heart… they all kill people, you see it happen, and after a while you expect it to happen, but this one in particular just touched me. It was beautiful, I can’t forget it.
I’m also quite a fan of both Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan, so this movie was very enjoyable for me because of them. Although Michelle isn’t in the film in any capacity but as the “love interest”, she’s not a shallow character. She’s the everywoman, the one who has to watch her friend act strangely, violently, angrily, over and over and never know why. What I love about her character, is that she is the one who is stuck with so much confusion and she never overacts it. It’s not meant to be dramatic, human fear and confusion and helplessness is not dramatic, it’s sad and frightening, and that’s exactly how she is.
Jake Gyllenhaal, in my opinion, should get some kind of award for this movie. I’ve been a fan of his since Donnie Darko and this is honestly one of his strongest roles. Returning to the idea of non-dramatic fear and helplessness… he gets Colter to a tee. His desperation, his confusion and anguish, his realization in the capsule and the cold weight of his choice at the end… it’s just stunning.
The story is also very well done. It reminded me a little of Inception, I won’t lie, but where as Inception was about dreams, this is about alternate realities… the idea that you can exist on many planes at once and no matter what you do, you can’t change events that have already happened. I read a fic based on the Time Traveler’s Wife the other day and it mentioned just that. Alternate realities that you exist in but can’t change the past for. What has happened has happened, and it can’t be done over. I’m still trying to wrap my brain around whether or not the timeline itself makes sense, but as I said, I am rather physics-challenged so I will leave the proving of facts up to those who understand a smidgen of mathematics.
All in all a hefty 8/10 from me for Source Code, and a guarantee that I will watch it again. I recommend it to anyone who is a fan of good action movies and good dramas. Anyone who likes the two leads will greatly enjoy this movie as well. And finally, if you are a fan of science fiction ala Inception and Tarkovsky’s Stalker, then this is a film for you.
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