Imagine a movie that combines elements from older movies with the likes of “Groundhog Day,” “Déjà vu” and “Inception,” and you’ll be able to begin wrapping your head around “Source Code,” starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan.
The story is centered around Gyllenhaal’s character, Captain Stevens. A helicopter pilot turned science experiment guinea pig, he finds himself to be part of a government funded project known only as Source Code, where science has found a way for a person to relive the last eight minutes of another person’s life over and over.
In the movie, the Source Code is used to place Captain Stevens in the last moments of someone who was killed by a bomb that destroyed a Chicago commuter train. With only eight minutes at his disposal at a time, he is put in charge of finding both the bomb and the bomber, though as the story moves forward it becomes a bit more complicated.
This is definitely a solid movie to kick off the summer blockbuster season this year. The suspense grips viewers from the first line to the last frame. Even though 85 percent of the movie revolves around the same eight minute window, it is written and shot in a way where you almost don’t notice the repetition.
Though this may not be an Academy Award-winner by any stretch, it is still a great ride, and the performances are on point. For the most part, there really aren’t any dull moments in the movie.
One characteristic about the film is that the theme is always evolving.What the movie starts out as in the beginning will have changed into something else by the end, but the logic or tempo of the story is never sacrificed.
This is one of those movies you need to see with a friend — you will be talking about it for hours after it’s over.
