Nostromo Coffee

I don’t believe I have ever started a film review with a film recommendation before. But I overwhelmingly feel the need to recommend this particular one. The film is Moon and it stars Sam Rockwell and… Sam Rockwell. It is one of the best Sci-Fi films in recent years and unfortunately it was somewhat overlooked by the general public. The film was directed by Duncan Jones. He is also the director of the film that this review is over, Source Code.

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Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up on a train across from a beautiful women (Michelle Monaghan). The only problem with this scenario is that Colter does not remember getting on the train. He does not know the woman (we find out later her name is Christina) across from him, although she clearly thinks she knows him. She also keeps calling him Sean. Just when things can’t get any stranger for Captian Stevens, the train and all the passengers are engulfed in flames as a bomb goes off.

Captain Stevens is in fact in a program code-named Source Code. The program allows him to physically go back eight minutes in time using the body and memory of one of the fateful passengers. Steven’s mission is to find the identity of the bomber before he has a chance to detonate a dirty bomb in downtown Chicago.

But Stevens does not remember signing up for Source Code. He does not even remember leaving his unit in Afghanistan. These are all questions he wants answers to from Captain Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) and Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright), the two main people at the program. Slowly and intermittently Captain Stevens get some of his answers, but will he get them (and possibly change his past) before the bomber detonates again?

Source Code is quite possibly the best movie I’ve seen so far this year. A thrilling science fiction film that dances on the edge of the preposterous at times. But the magic of science fiction is that preposterous is believable when done correct. And Duncan Jones does it more than correctly, he does it with near expert care.

The story sucks you in from the beginning. While you could spend time questioning some of the science behind the Source Code program, you instead spend your time on the edge of your seat wondering what comes next.

Jake Gyllenhaal gives what could be one of his finest performances in his already stellar career. He plays emotions genuinely and effortlessly. But his performance would be nothing without the lovely Michelle Monaghan. The chemistry between the two are what keep you watching.

Source Code is just an all around good fun. If my synopsis of the film is a bit vague, I do not apologize. I did not want to give away too much info; I would much rather you have the joy of finding out what happens for yourself.

Verdict: SEE IT!

So where you blown away by Source Code? I would like to hear your thoughts and opinions below.

This entry was posted on 06/04/2011 at 5:04 PM and is filed under Film Reviews with tags action, Chicago, Duncan Jones, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Moon, movie, movie review, Sam Rockwell, Sci-Fi, Science-Fiction, Source Code, thriller, train, Vera Farmiga. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.