Jake Gyllenhaal Shines Through the Explosions in "Source Code"

As a Chicagoan, it is always interesting to see your own city in a movie. Time and again I have sat through an action movie and saw New York or Los Angeles get pulverized. Where was the action-movie love for the Windy City? Sure, it may be a bit demented to wish to see your home town get demolished, but it is some kind of badge of honor to see that happen and a cheesy movie, made for television, about an impossible hurricane over Lake Michigan destroying the city just wasn't enough.

Thankfully, now there is the movie Source Code, starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a man who appears to be a soldier who is out to stop a terrorist. Technically speaking, Chicago is not the thing that you see get blown up over and over again, but it is a train headed for the city and, well, that's close enough. Considering I used to take those commuter trains, it is even chilling to see it happen.

In order to appreciate Source Code you have to suspend your disbelief. It is a science fiction movie. Once you understand that, however, it is easy to suspend that disbelief and let the movie carry you along. When you are willing to let the movie carry you along, you are in for one helluva ride and a lot of fun. It is also a movie that does not cheat its audience or talk down to them. It assumes you will be paying attention, buy into the world they have created, and go along with it. It's worth going along.

Gyllenhaal's character is a soldier who appears to be working for an elite branch of the government. He is capable of tapping into the memories of a man who was recently killed. The hows and the whys of this are not particularly well-thought-out. You just have to accept the premise.

The reason this is important is because the man was killed when a terrorist blew up a morning commuter train. As the train is passing a string of tanker cars from a freight train, the commuter train is blown apart. The resulting explosion kills everyone aboard the commuter train. However, this is just the first volley of a two-part attack. The second explosion will be of a home-made nuclear device or dirty bomb. That will be much, much worse and cause a lot more destruction and many more casualities.

Someone on that train must be the bomber. By sending Gyllenhaal's character into the mind of someone on that train, maybe he can figure out who the bomber was. If he can do it fast enough, the authorities might be able to stop the second device from going off.

But what if he can change the way things turn out? This is where the mind-bending aspects come in. This is where the concepts of alternate dimensions comes into play. This is where you will be scratching your head if you aren't paying attention.

The movie manages to succeed on a variety of levels. It succeeds as an excellent detective thriller. Who is the bomber? That kid over there? The guy with the beard? Is Gyllenhaal's character the bomber? It is very Hitchcockian in that respect. It succeeds as science fiction with the outlandish plot and the high-tech aspect. It even manages to succeed as a romance and Gyllenhaal's character falls in love with one played by Michelle Monaghan. The romance does not feel forced or false, either.

If there is one problem with Source Code, it is that it may not have quite enough layers. It is being compared to Inception, and it does not quite measure up to the level of sophistication in that movie. Inception sat in Chris Nolan's brain for ten years and was a fully layered and thought-out masterpiece. Each aspect had been meticulously thought out and considered by Nolan.

Source Code is not quite in that same league. It throws out that it is possible to someone insert someone's mind into the mind of someone who recently died. It doesn't really explain how that is possible. It throws out the words "quantum physics" and figures that's good enough to explain it. Personally, I would have liked to have known more.
It is a minor quibble, however. It is like comparing a masterpiece to an excellent piece of artwork. It just isn't fair. Source Code manages to stand on its own, not as some Inception rip-off, but as an excellent adventure all its own. It will keep you on the edge of your seat rooting for characters and biting your nails wondering what will happen next. It is an excellent thriller and an exciting movie to watch. It is, definitely, one of the best movies so far this spring.