“Source Code”
Written by Ben Ripley; Directed by Duncan Jones; Stars: Jake Gyllenhall, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga. Story: An action thriller centered on a soldier who wakes up in the body of an unknown man and discovers he’s part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.
Seen by Adam and Lars, April 19, 2011
LARS:
When Duncan Jones released his first film, “Moon”, a few years ago, few critics could get over the fact that he is David Bowie’s son. It was almost like there was a collective gasp of surprise that someone that famous could have a son that was also incredibly talented. There was something like a collective sigh of ‘that’s totally not fair’ going on. Thankfully, once they’d gotten over that hurdle, most realized that “Moon” was a little gem of a science-fiction movie with a brilliant central performance by Sam Rockwell. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it.
Now that Jones has his second film, “Source Code” in theaters, there is no longer any doubt that he’s a very talented filmmaker. This is certainly no sophomore slump.
“Source Code” is an original script from Ben Ripley, whose previous work (Species III and other straight to DVD titles) didn’t exactly promise greatness. But “Source Code” works extremely well as a sci-fi take on “Groundhog Day”. Essentially, the premise is the same: a guy has to relive the same situation over and over until he gets it right. While Bill Murray had to change his personality in order to find true love, Jake Gyllenhaal has a more desperate challenge: he has to find a bomb on board a train, identify the bomber and stop the train from blowing up. Oh, and he has exactly 8 minutes to do it. Between his stints on the train, Gyllenhaal’s character, Colter Stevens, is trying to find out what the locked room he finds himself in is, and where he is. Giving away more of the plot would be a shame.
Jones has a deft eye for casting. Gyllenhall and Michelle Monaghan have easy chemistry (btw, wouldn’t it be nice to see Monaghan for once get a juicy part, where she is not just the cute girl?) and Vera Farmiga plays a morally torn ‘controller’ as effective as any part she’s ever played.
However, the real smarts of the film is in the way Jones cuts it together so Stevens discovers little bits every time he goes back on the train as well as back into the locked room, so both strands have cliffhangers every time we leave them behind. Where reliving the same situation over and over again could get repetitive and dull if done badly, here there never less than constant tension.
If the film has any flaws, it’s the tacked on ending. You can almost hear the studio executives seeing the first cut of the movie go ‘but…but…that’s not a happy ending… Let’s make sure we come up with something that’s more uplifting!” It is tonally out of whack with the rest of the film and seems dumber than the rest. Hence, I blame a studio executive.
Duncan Jones is great to follow on Twitter, where he is @manmademoon. He’s obviously a fellow geek, into games and sci-fi and completely aware of how blessed his life is. It’ll be interesting to follow his career. Maybe one day, Duncan Jones will be the most famous member of the Bowie family.
ADAM:
One particular psychological theme echoed in a great number of films in the past few years, and one I’ve talked about repeatedly here is what I’ve referred to as the “predictive future” theme. Science fiction (at its core) can deviate a long way from spacemen and monsters, as in “Groundhog Day.” Remember, science fiction just means the scientific rules that form our understanding of what is possible are challenged and broken. The predictive future film puts the main character in a situation where he gains some form of information, either directly or indirectly about what is coming or going to happen (in a way no normal person would believe), and must use that information to solve a bigger problem. “Minority Report,” “Next,” “Knowing,” “The Adjustment Bureau,” “Total Recall,” the TV shows “Medium” and “Early Edition.” These are just some examples and with the exception of “Medium” always feature a male lead. It’s not a surprise; these films always seem to be about a lack of control; ironic with the advance knowledge they possess.
“Source Code” is the second feature length film from Duncan Jones, known nearly as much for his first film “Moon,” a tight and very contained and claustrophobic Sci-Fi tale about a astronaut on a lonely mission as he is for being the son of arguably the most inventive and creative rock star of all time, David Bowie. Despite Jones’ attempts to keep that fact under wraps, what is apparent is that Jones shares much with his dad; namely a love of story, a care for visual craft as well as the meat and potatoes of the narrative, and a genuine desire to have the audience feel on the same level as the creator. For David Bowie, that has always been a confidence that never disrupts his desire to make the audience feel like his friends or part of the crazy club. Jones shows the same respect for his audience, by not treating them like idiots. He throws us into the middle of what’s going on and expects us to figure a lot out in the outset. Mind you, it’s not rocket science here, but still there’s an immediate feeling like Jones actually believes the viewer has a brain in his head, and realizes he does not need his hand held throughout.
“Source Code” is “Groundhog Day” meets “Speed” to a degree: Jake Gyllenhall is forced to try repeatedly to solve a crime (the bombing of a commuter train) until he succeeds, though of course there is a ticking clock, explained away by some scientific explanation that also defines the ability to change the past — things you must, as a sci-fi fan, make peace with when you agree to leave some sense of reality at the theater door. Without getting to into detail, “Code” does entertain, and due to both a secondary story about Gyllenhall’s character and the charming Michelle Monaghan, we care about their fate.
It’s a much better than average script by Ben Ripley, whose previous work was less than memorable; there are repetitive passages and there is some creative and scientific license taken. And there seems to be three possible endings in the last five minutes. I like the last one the least, and would’ve preferred the movie to end on the train. But this is about the ride, and it’s certainly a fun one.
