Source Code

85/100 (2011, 93 min)
Director: Duncan Jones
Writer: Ben Ripley
Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan and Vera Farmiga

What would you do if you knew you only had one minute to live?

I usually use imdb's summaries for movies in the beginning of my reviews. But with the “Source Code” it's truly the best if you don't know anything prior to seeing it except for the fact that the man, played by Jake Gyllenhaal suddenly wakes up on the train and few minutes later the train explodes. But here comes the surprise – he doesn't die...

Two years ago most of us saw “Moon”, first feature film by David Bowie's son, Duncan Jones. The movie was beautifully filmed, had an interesting story filled with twists and turns and something that was its heart and soul – Sam Rockwell's masterful performance which was unjustifiably overlooked during Oscar season. Now Jones returns with “Source Code”. The movie doesn't feel as “fresh” as “Moon”, but it wins on another field – the characters.

It's impossible not to like Jake Gyllenhaal's heroes. I'm not one of his fan girls who drooled excessively during “Love and other drugs” (it's nice to see that Gyllenhaal starred in a great movie after this crapfest, there is hope for him after all), but he always plays characters I root for. He was very good choice for this part – we can easily believe he is a brave soldier, a man determined to save everybody else, we struggle with situation as he does. The best thing about “Source Code” is that from the very beginning we see and know what the main hero sees and knows. We learn things along with him and as he is shocked, scared or relieved, we experience it with him.