Source Code

Duncan Jones made a big splash a couple of years ago with the brilliant sci-fi thriller 'Moon'. His follow up has a bigger budget and more people.

There is one thing I've never understood about the military. They go to a lot of trouble to develop special programs and technologies to help fight battles. But the one thing they can never seem to factor in is human emotion. They expect their soldiers to be like emotionless robots who can kill at whim or complete a mission without taking into account the people around them. That is the case here. Supposedly Colter Stevens has been screened to make sure he was suitable for the Source Code program, I would have thought that the creators of the program would have factored into their screening process how emotional soldiers can get in difficult situations. It is especially true when you have innocent lives at stake. I think if the situation involved enemy soldiers it would be different but Colter has to try and save civilians in a city. Other than that this is a well made thriller. Writer Ben Ripley has done an excellent job of making us confused like Colter is when he wakes up in the Source Code. We discover what is going on through Colter's eyes. He also does a good job of making each trip to the train interesting so you don't get bored. I found the ending to be a bit cliched but that was ok.

Jake Gyllenhaal is perfect as the hero. He has played soldiers before so there is not much of a stretch here. He is very convincing though as someone who is supposed to be an average guy taking charge. Michelle Monaghan does not have all that much to do except react to Jake. But I always like to see her in anything. Vera Farmiga is excellent as always. Her character is another example though of emotion getting in the way of the mission. Jeffrey Wright plays a nicely ruthless and focused scientist.

I think that I may have over thought this film a bit. You will need your thinking cap to watch it and be willing to go along with a risky premise. Risky in terms of believability.