Friday 6 November 2015

Source Code (2011)

(SPOILER ALERT: DO NOT READ THIS POST IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW IF THE GUY GETS THE GIRL?)

[Now for a bust of a movie that isn't quite what it says on the tin.]

Source Code (2011) is a French-American science fiction/thriller/romance film directed by Duncan Jones, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, and Jeffrey Wright.

In the end, the concious remnants of an American military helicopter pilot, declared dead-in-action, Jake Gyllenhaal, escapes the confines of the repeatedly reconstructed events of a terrorist attack, with one of its victims, Michelle Monaghan, who he has become romantically attached to.

Unwitting participant in a secret US military experiment designed to investigate the circumstances immediately preceding terror incidents using the afterglow of brain activity of their victims, Gyllenhaal, whose last memory is of flying a mission in Afghanistan, wakes to find himself on a Chicago bound morning commuter train, opposite school teacher, Monaghan, who is under the impression that he is a friend and colleague, minutes before it is destroyed by an explosion.

Alone and disoriented, Gyllenhaal finds himself trapped inside an unfamiliar capsule, receiving confusing instructions via a video link with a command centre, from a uniformed controller, Vera Farmiga, who explains that he is on a mission to find which of the train passengers is responsible for the bombing, as they have apparently threatened to carry out further attacks.

So Gyllenhaal is forced to re-experience events on the train a number of times in order to search for clues, during the course of which, it becomes apparent that there is no hope of his surviving beyond the life support system of the experiment and its disconnected existence.

Realising the grim prospect of his situation, Gyllenhaal exacts an undertaking from the program's architect, Jeffrey Wright, that he be detached from the system and allowed to die, should he meet with success.

However, when Gyllenhaal eventually tracks a mobile phone attached to the bomb he discovered hidden above a wash-room ceiling, to a man he sees deliberately planting his wallet in a carriage compartment to cover his tracks, before alighting at a station in order to collect a van containing what he describes as a dirty bomb that he intends to detonate in the city, Wright reneges on the deal.

Reasoning that Gyllenhaal is too valuable an asset to discard now that he has proved the program works, Wright orders Farmiga to wipe his memory, in preparation for his next mission.

But Farmiga, recognising Gyllenhaal's despair at being unable to effect the outcomes of the lost commuters and the future torment he is likely to suffer as a continued part of the program, defies the order, agreeing to allow Gyllenhaal one last pass through the event, before switching the system's life-support off.

This time Gyllenhaal has all the information he needs to quickly disable the bomb, restrain the bomber, and alert authorities to his intentions.

Then, with the time he has left, he leaves Farmiga a text message, consoles his estranged father by cellphone, and, paying a stand-up comedian to entertain the other passengers, embraces Monaghan in a passionate kiss, something she has clearly been anticipating, just as Farmiga pulls the plug on him, and against all expectations, Gyllenhaal and Monaghan's alternate reality persists.

The commuter train arrives at its destination, and they decide to ditch work for the day and enjoy a long promised coffee together, as Farmiga receives Gyllenhaal's message predicting the thwarting of the bomb attacks and his part in the top secret project on which she is engaged.


The cod-science underpinning the premise of this movie doesn't bear up to even the most cursory examination. But never mind that, what we have is a Groundhog Day (1993) for geeks, science fantasy romance, that plays to all of Gyllenhaal's guy out of his depth trying to solve complicated puzzle and catch the bad guy while sweeping the princess in peril off her feet strengths, even winning the heart of his let's keep this professional operator. Once again, Duncan Jones demonstrates a talent for successfully balancing mystery, drama, and emotion, with the occasional flash of humour. There is much to enjoy. Though this might very well prove to be the last good movie he is responsible for, having taken up the poisoned Warcraft chalice. Let's just hope he hasn't drunk too deeply from it. (A whole year after this post was originally penned, and there's still no sign of it. (Apparently the release has been pushed back not to compete with J.J. Abrams's Star Wars! Like that was ever possible :P))

Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_Code
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warcraft_(film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_The_Force_Awakens