Source Code

A couple of years back, we had Moon, a sci-fi thriller directed by Son-Of-David-Bowie-Used-To-Be-Called-Zowie-Bowie, Duncan Jones. And now we have Source Code, a sci-fi thriller by Director-Of-Moon, Duncan Jones. Important distinction; with Moon, Duncan Jones established in my mind an absolute right to be known in his own right as a creative force. And Source Code, therefore has the much tougher job of living up to the high standard of his own debut, rather than the relatively simple task of proving that he's more than a celebrity's kid.

Anyway, not to worry. Because while I couldn't hand on heart say that I think Source Code is as good as Moon, I couldn't say that about many other movies I've seen in the last two years. This is a tense sci-fi thriller, that is the mongrel son of Groundhog Day and 24, and an interesting hybrid it is!

Jake Gyllenhaal is Captain Colter Stevens (fine 80s action series name there), a helicopter pilot who, suddenly, bizarrely, finds himself Quantum Leap stylee, in the body of another man, a school teacher travelling to work by train with a female colleague. Not knowing how or why he is suddenly there, he goes into a bit of a panic, ending up in a bathroom of the train, where he sees in the mirror that his reflection is not of himself. Eight minutes in to his "leap", the train explodes.

He then finds himself in some sort of capsule, being talked to by a female Army captain, who wants to know if he can tell them anything about the explosion, and who is very cagey indeed about how he suddenly and unexpectedly appears to be part of this mission. (She does not, sadly, tell him to take his protein pills or put his helmet on, though). The science it seems is that they've managed to sync him with the last eight minutes of this guy's life, quantum-entanglement-style, and that he can go in and relive that eight minutes in any way he likes, and explore all the possible variants of those eight minutes. This, they hope, will allow him to discover who set the bomb, and thus help them catch him before he kills again - the train bomb itself has already happened, and can't be changed, only relived.

Hence, we have a 24-style thriller played out in an endlessly repeated 8 minute loop, Groundhog Day style. And in addition to the mystery of the bomb on the train, Stevens has also got the mystery of just what the hell is this Source Code project, and how did he come to be involved in it?

Like I say, this isn't as good a film as Moon. But it *nearly* is, and I would recommend any film you could make that claim about. See this film, and eagerly await whatever Duncan Jones comes up with next.