Written by Ben Ripley
Directed by Duncan Jones
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright
For his second feature Duncan Jones has remained with sci-fi and though it's set on Earth, unlike his first film Moon, its concept is far from firmly on the ground. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Captain Colter Stevens, a soldier who has served in Afghanistan, and is being employed by Dr Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright) to take part in the Source Code program. He is able to relive the last eight minutes of Sean Fentress, a victim of a terrorist bombing on a train, in order to find the bomber and prevent a second attack.
Once this is established these eight minutes are relayed to us numerous times, with a different result every time; these are very exciting and often humorous but the periods of recovery between each attempt lead to lulls in which there is a lot of explaining of concepts and answering of questions. With the inevitable comparisons to Christopher Nolan's Inception, because of its questioning of reality and convoluted plot, it could be said that the screenplay could take a leaf out of Nolan's book; perhaps there were too many times when the film slowed to a halt. Despite this, the chemistry between Stevens and Christina (Monaghan) is sweet and Farmiga plays her role with a good measure of detachedness and sympathy. The whole cast works together well and succeed in making the script work.
In a concept-driven film, Duncan Jones is able to balance character with plot, carefully mixing the smaller moments with the major plot twists, giving it a similar feel to the more self-contained Moon. Source Code is an enjoyable watch and thoroughly entertaining, but the final five minutes may require a suspension of disbelief.
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