Source Code

Decent thriller about a soldier who wakes up in the body of a commuter on a train about to blow up in 8 minutes.  His objective?  Determine who is responsible for the explosive.  Overly cerebral suspense deals with time travel and parallel realities.  Solid actioner has science fiction elements which allow him to repeat the mission seemingly without end.  I must say I did find it a bit exhausting reliving the same 8 minutes 7 times throughout the course of the film.  Sort of the sci-fi equivalent of Groundhog Day.  Jake Gyllenhaal’s personality isn’t particularly charismatic either.  To wit, there is zero chemistry between him and his love interest played by Michelle Monaghan.  Granted it’s pretty hard to build much romance in 8 minute increments, but still.  Mostly a high concept exercise, there are some intriguing details and the race against time is tense and exciting.  Just don’t try to analyze the scientific explanation for it all.  The head trip story is probably best enjoyed if you put your brain in neutral.  The ending still leaves a lingering confusion.  This won’t be addressed for fear of spoilers, but they’re the kind of frustrating questions ripe for debate.  What else would you expect from Duncan Jones?  He also directed the intellectual conundrum Moon.