Source Code

90% Rotten Tomatoes, I think not, but this sci fi thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal as Marine captain Colter Stevens is definitely worth checking out.  For those who haven't seen the trailer or heard of this, Stevens is part of new project called Source Code - designed to transfer a person into the last 8 minutes of another person's life, the remaining haze of memory. His mission: find the bomber.

For those of you either supersmart or superlogical, you'll know who the bomber is very early on, but you can still enjoy the way the plot moves as it builds from Stevens first realizing he's in the program and what his back story is as it plays a as a parallel subplot and secondary goal. Despite what he is told over and over that the source code is not a time machine, Stevens tries to keep changing history.  What is more than success are the possibilities beyond what's dreamt of, giving us an ending we still discuss long after the credits have finished rolling.

Gyllenhaal turns in a strong performance as he goes from past to present, in confusion, understanding, action and will to challenge. Vera Farmiga's Goodwin is also a strong but controlled anchor for him.  Her subtleties and body language portraying more internal guilt and sympathy than her words allow. 

The film does a great job keeping us engaged for the most part, sequences repeat itself but with enough variety every time to the point where 8 minutes blow by in the blink of an eye. Tension and frustrations keep building until one goal is accomplished with another waiting to end in the wings. There haven't been many films lately that challenge us to think - this is one that does.  Watch closely too to wonder beyond.

4/5