What would you do if you had eight minutes to live? Stop a terrorist attack, of course. At least that’s what Capt. Colter Stevens, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, is expected to do in Duncan Jones’ “The Source Code.”
“The Source Code” is a computer program that allows Stevens to cross into another man’s identity for the last eight minutes of the latter’s life.
When we first meet Stevens, he is waking up on a commuter train in the body of Sean Fentress, a teacher, the train to work with his friend, Christina, played by Michelle Monaghan, who longs to be more than that. The train is about to explode and Stevens must work against time to find the bomber before the train blows up in order to prevent a second, bigger bombing in downtown Chicago.
At first, he is confused as to what he is doing on the train and why this strange woman is talking to him. She tells him everything will be OK and then he blows up with the train. He has to relive those eight minutes again and again “Ground Hog Day” style.
By the time he understands his ultimate goal, he has developed a special bond with Christina. It’s a fast-paced thriller with a gooey love-story center.
It then becomes his mission to save Christina and the rest of the passengers, even though the government employee who is controlling the source code, Colleen Goodwin, played by Vera Farmiga, says they’re already dead and it’s impossible to bring them back. He’s not so much traveling through time as traveling to another dimension of reality.
While his mind travels, his body remains in a metal capsule where he communicates with Goodwin through a TV monitor. Or does he?
Jones has taken screenwriter Ben Ripley’s conception and created an exciting type of sci-fi movie that lets the audience use their imaginations in an “Inception” —esque kind of way. What if there is an alternate reality? Is there another me somewhere who has made different decisions? Could Farmiga’s Colleen send me to meet her?
Farmiga gained national atten-tion and award nominations after her role opposite George Clooney in “Up in the Air.” She delivers another brilliant performance as the face-in-the-monitor in charge of reorienting Stevens and then sending him back to the train. She had to act opposite a camera in this role, never even coming face to face with Gyllenhaal, yet, still creating a believable, compelling connection.
Monaghan, who had to wear the same outfit throughout filming, is adorable but boring as Gyllenhaal’s predictable love interest.
Gyllenhaal delivers an emotionally gut-wrenching performance as the veteran soldier-turned-dimension-jumper who has been charged with saving the world from the dirty bomb soon to be released upon unsuspecting masses.
A brilliant casting decision has real-life comedian Russell Peters playing, you guessed it, a comedian named Max Denoff who came in third on a reality comedy show. His presence on the train brings the comic relief and levity needed to complete the genre-inclusive movie.
But the most interesting casting credit goes to Scott Bakula, the original Quantum Leap-er, as Gyllenhaal’s father who is heard but never seen. Perhaps he has jumped to another dimension. Let’s hope it’s one where “The Source Code” is playing as it is a must-see thrill a minute — or eight minutes.
