Source Code

The Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright.

The Story:  An action thriller centred on a soldier (Gyllenhaal) who wakes up in the body of an unknown man and discovers he is part of a mission to fuel the bomber of a Chicago commute train.  

US Military helicopter pilot Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes with a jolt to find himself on a commuter train bound for Chicago; last time he checked, he was a marine fighting alongside his battalion in Afghanistan.

The woman seated across from him, Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan) seems to know him and insists on calling him Sean.

He doesn’t remember how he got here in fact; he doesn’t even know who is. The last thing Colter remembers he was coming under fire on a combat mission in Afghanistan.

When he looks into a mirror in the bathroom he sees another man's face. Eight minutes later the train explodes, killing everyone on board and waking Colter again, this time in his own body, locked in what looks like a dank cell which is leaking hydraulic fluid.

His only human connection is through a screen that broadcasts live feed from a government office into his cell. He is greeted by an agent named Carol Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) who monitors his every move and vital signs.

She is very careful to explain to him as little as possible. He learns he is part of a top secret military operation that enables him to relive the last eight minutes of a persons life.  

The military has figured out a way to tap into the final eight minutes experienced by a dead person, sending the test subject to relive their final moments in order to figure out what killed them. The theory is that each person contains a short term memory that can be explored and expanded on, and while in that eight minute cycle, you are essentially in an alternate reality that allows you to explore and interact with your surroundings.

Colter must repeatedly life through the last eight minutes of newly killed passenger Sean Fentress until he finds the bomber. If he is successful he can prevent another attack from happening that same day.

As he revisits the train time and time again he becomes smitten with Christina, even abandoning his mission at one stage to save her life. Although he is assured by Goodwin that this is impossible as she is already dead, but it doesn’t stop him trying. He is reminded that the aim of ‘Source Code’ is to change the future and not to fix the past. 

Time travel stories have been attempted more times than you could probably count in science fiction but director Duncan Jones (Moon) has made Source Code one of the more successful examples.

THE VICDICT: This science-fiction thriller, has very little to fault. It is put together brilliantly and despite the constant flash backs it is very clear to understand. Gyllenhaal is a solid leading man and plays the part of Captain Colter Stevens brilliantly.  It is extremely entertaining while also connecting emotionally with the audience. It will have you consistently confused, off guard and intrigued right to the end.