As I sit down to write this review I have come to a realization, I have no idea how to describe this movie. I will keep this short as to be truthful I really can't do this film justice by talking about it. I "think" I understand it, but heck, I'm not 100% sure. And that is the biggest problem here to me, this movie is more complicated than it probably should be. First off, there is a lot here to like. Some of the images are absolutely wonderful and Jake Gyllenhaal is always likable as an actor and usually gives top notch performances. The story, while very confusing at times, is also interesting enough that you never get bored with it and that's a good thing. Probably my favorite thing about the film is the fact that it absolutely breezes by. It's only an hour and a half long and I really felt like I was in the theater for only an hour, if that. If this movie would have dragged itself out for two hours I feel like it would have lost me for good, so I'm happy with the run time.
Here's the best I can do in regards to a plot. Gyllenhaal plays Colter Stevens, an Army helicopter pilot who's last memory is of him on a mission in Afghanistan. As the movie opens, he wakes up on a train but has no idea why he is there. There is a woman sitting across from him who speaks as if she knows him but he has no idea who she is. She calls him Sean which is even more confusing. He ends up going to the bathroom and wh0en he looks in the mirror the face he sees is not his own. Eight minutes later, the train blows up and Stevens all of a sudden finds himself inside of some kind of chamber and there is a woman he does not recognize on a tv monitor. The lady is played by Vera Farmiga (Up In The Air) and she gives somewhat of an explanation about what is going on. Through some kind of virtual reality, Stevens is placed in the "source code" and is able to take over Sean's body for eight minutes. He is told that there is a bomb aboard the train and he needs to go back and try and find it. Stevens then finds himself back on the train in the same circumstances as the movie opened.
That's pretty much how the movie plays out from this moment on. He keeps going back and forth and each time is able to put a little piece of the puzzle together. The people running the source code are having him do this because they fell a bigger bomb explosion is imminent and if they can track down who bombs the train, they will find out who is about to set off the bigger dirty bomb. I was reminded a lot of the film Groundhog Day, except this time only 8 minutes need to be relived each time rather than a full day. But there is definitely a deja vu feeling to the whole thing. And if the movie would have just stayed that way throughout it's entirety I think I would have enjoyed it a bit more. But about midway through things get "deeper" and that's where it starts to get a little too confusing, to me at least.
I have talked to several people who really enjoyed this film a lot and I can definitely see their point. Like I said there is stuff here to like. And upon another viewing, perhaps my appreciation of the film will increase. But going on this initial showing I was a bit letdown with the result. I am giving it the very slightest of recommendations and hopefully you will find more here than I did and be pleasantly surprised.
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