Source Code - LetterboxD Review

Link to original review

Coming hot off the back of the sublime "Moon", director Duncan Jones second feature could quite easily have wound up being a by the numbers piece of action / sci fi / fantasy. As it turned out, he gave us one of the best films of 2011 and one of the more original stories I have seen in years..

The concept behind Source Code is the same high level, intelligent sci fi that you would find in films like The Matrix and Inception. Taking a wild concept and threading a compelling story around it then executing it to within a inch of perfection. Source Code hits all the right beats. The casting of the leads was spot on with Jake Gyllenhaal stepping up to the big leagues and showing that he has moved on from the teen like roles of Donnie Darko and The Day After Tomorrow. This is the Gyllenhaal we would see in End of Watch. Gyllenhaal the actor. I'm not for one second pretending that he is in the same realms as the greats or even the goods but with the right film (End of Watch was also one of my faves of the year and everyone loves Donnie Darko right?!), the kid does OK and Source Code is the perfect vehicle for him.

Then there's the girl next door Michelle Monaghan. What this performance lacks in Santa outfits, it makes up for in the perfect pitching of the background lead. The other character who helps things tick along without stealing any of the thunder. She's likable, she's pretty but she doesn't draw the attention away from the story. Another pitch perfect casting and performance.

Vera Farmiga (as Colter Stephen's only friend outside of the code), Michael Arden and the rest of the ensemble of train commuters also produce good collective performances.

Once you've accepted it's high concept storyline and over the first 30-40 minutes got your head around whats happening, you really start to enjoy the ride. I wouldn't say there were necessarily twists in the story, the progressive nature of Colter's investigation proves compelling enough as he digs closer and closer to the answer he needs.

The film gets a LOT of stick for its final act epilogue. Was it necessary? Probably not. There is a freeze frame towards the end that would have served as a perfectly good conclusion to the story, unfortunately, at a very tight 93 minute running time. without it's epilogue, the story simply would have been too short... better suited to a Saturday night HBO special and not the big screen. I don't mind the epilgoue and actually quite enjoyed it, playing out an additional layer to the already complex (yet also remarkably simple) narrative structure and concept. The epilogue can be seen as a gateway to a sequel (or franchise - imagine Source Code 5:The HTML Incident!) or padding to the already noted shortness of the 3 main acts. I see it, for good and bad, as both a minor Hollywoodisation [sic] of the story but also as adding that final layer of complexity, the final cherry on the top of the ice cream. This is dream level 4 of Inception, this is where things go hyper-conceptual!

I absolutely loved Source Code, it was the best film I saw in 2011 and I hope Duncan Jones continues on with his run of very very good films. If they're anything like Source Code (and Moon!) we've got one very good young director to keep an eye on!

I gave this film 5 stars out of 5!