Source Code’ is science fiction done right

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Source Code’ is science fiction done right
April 5, 2011
Matthew Munden
the prospector

Duncan Jones' "Source Code" mixes elements of popular science fiction into a movie that is as well crafted as one would expect from the young director of "Moon."

The movie stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Colter Stevens, who mysteriously wakes up on a commuter train in Chicago sitting across from a woman named Christina (Michelle Monaghan) that seems to be the girlfriend of a man named Sean Fentress…but the problem is that Christina believes to think Colter is Sean. However, that isn't the only problem, because eight minutes after Colter wakes up on this train it explodes and kills everybody on board. Turns out that Colter is part of an experimental mission that is sending him back to the final eight minutes of Sean's life to discover why the train blew up and to find the identity of the bomber before another weapon could off.

"Source Code" shares a lot in common with shows like "Fringe" because of the science being used. There are discussions of alternate universes and fate. It also reminded me of some of the shows like "Daybreak" and the American remake of "Life on Mars." Both shows, like "Source Code," depend on revelations, instead of twists. The mystery can be solved quite early in the film, if you pay attention to all the details and realize that no scenes in this movie are filler…well, until you get to the final five minutes of the film, which should have been cut. The movie has a perfect ending in it, but the movie keeps going. It doesn't ruin the movie, but you wish that an editor had trimmed it down a bit.

The score, especially at the start of the movie, brought a geeky smile to my face (well that is actually the only smile I'm capable of). The opening theme felt Hitchcockian to such an extent that I thought that Bernard Herrmann rose from the dead to do another score (actually, I felt this way during "Hobo with a Shotgun" as well, maybe he is now a zombie).

If I have any problems with the film, apart from the ending scene, it has to be with Jeffrey Wright as Dr. Rutledge. Wright is normally an actor that I really like and I think his portrayal of characters like Felix Leiter in the recent James Bond films are quite good. However, Dr. Rutledge is almost a comically evil scientist. From his mannerisms to his vocal inflection, it seemed like Wright and screenwriter Ben Ripley just looked up evil military scientist in the dictionary of clichés (great book by the way, five out of five stars) and thought it would be a great fit.

On a budget of about $30 million, Jones makes this film look great. From the beautiful visuals (beautiful is a strange word to use, but a couple of the explosions…especially one that occurs when Colter is handcuffed in the train looks amazing. And now, I sound like a creepy…actually, creepier sociopath) to some great sound design (one scene in particular that ends with a cut to black has one of the most cringe inducing sounds of carnage that has been used for awhile), "Source Code" is a work of science fiction brilliance in the same way that 2009's "District 9" and Jones' "Moon" was.

With two movies, Jones has proved himself to be a visionary auteur of science fiction and I, for one, cannot wait to see what comes next.

Four out of five picks