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Movie Review: Source Code

    Hey, movie lovers. Different opening. Cool, huh? Well, I guess many of you are about to go out for date night and are checking various sources to get an idea what you should spend your hard earned shekels on. Perhaps I can be of help. Try a movie named Source Code.
     To begin with, let me say that it is one of the freakiest movies I've ever seen. It has several jaw-dropping surprises, which I will spend the next few minutes trying not to spoil. It is rated PG 13 and there is nothing in it that would bother most young people. There is some cursing but zero nudity.
    Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Colter Stevens, who awakens in the middle of a mission which he didn't know he was on. His mission, and he can't choose whether or not to accept it, is to travel back in time to stop a terrorist from bombing a train just outside of Chicago. He has 8 minutes to do so which seems a bit of pressure for anyone until one realizes that he will get sent back again and again until he gets it right. Due to a top-secret invention called the Source Code, Colter sort of inhabits a host's body that was on the train at the time of destruction. The host has to be similar in build, age and that sort of thing. He is able to live the last 8 minutes of the dude's life.
     Wow, you think, not much time to do anything. Enough time to fall in love with foxy girl next door type Christina Warren, played by Michelle Monaghan. Also time enough to get in trouble with evil scientist boss Dr. Rutledge, played by Jeffrey Wright. It was also time enough to establish a nice vibe with foxy older lady Collen Goodwin, his handler from the future. She is played by Vera Farmiga and she does a great job of it.
     I don't want to give the impression that this is some sort of Groundhog's Day and you sit there waiting on Bill Murray. It is a tense, well-acted nail-biter that even had the large crowd of teenagers in the theater silent as a tomb. I, and my wife, agree that this is a solid 3.5 stars out of 4. If I wasn't so tight with stars I'd give the darn thing 4 stars. The ending so freaked me out that I walked out mumbling to myself. While in the restroom I asked a guy if he had just seen Source Code and I think I scared him a little. I merely thought I'd get him to tell me what the ending meant. He had been to see an opera performance from The Met.
     Bottom line is this; it's good, I recommend it and I can't tell you any more lest I ruin it. Adios, amigos.
    From the future, this is CE Wills.

Comments

  1. Wow, this is a smart critique! You know, among all the reviews I've read about Source Code, the common positive thing was that director Duncan Jones did a great job in telling the story. Actually, I made the same remark in my own Source Code movie review. Will you please check it out? Thanks!

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