Monday, January 23, 2012

Source Code (2011)

Man, 2011 was a year of crazy movie disappointments. Starting with The Green Hornet and all the way up to J. Edgar. Lots of films have not lived up to their trailers. Well, you can throw Source Code right up there with the rest. An interesting premise that became unnecessarily complex.

Army pilot Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up on a commuter train traveling toward Chicago. He is completely unaware of his surroundings because he last remembers being on a mission in Afghanistan. His travel partner Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan) seems to recognize him. Stevens goes to the bathroom where he appears as Sean Fentress. As he tries to figure everything out, everyone on board the train is killed by a bomb. This causes Stevens to wake up in a metal pod. Through a screen, Air Force Captain Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) explains to Stevens that he's in the "Source Code." The device allows Stevens to go back in time and try to stop the bomb from going off. Problem being, he has only eight minutes to do so every time he's sent back. Stevens goes back and forth in time to rule out the passengers as suspects and to find the explosive. During each passing trip in time, Stevens grows increasingly attracted to Christina and becomes hellbent on saving her from the impending disaster. But that's a task Capt. Goodwin says cannot be done.

This whole movie just felt so rushed. The filmmakers should have at least tried to give the characters some sort of backstory. For what it's worth, Jake Gyllenhaal and Vera Farmiga tried their best with what little they were given. I've never been a fan of Michelle Monaghan so you can just guess what I thought of her. The real odd part for me was Jeffrey Wright. He's the best actor in the movie, but manages to appear apathetic throughout. His terrible "scientist guy" voice just made me cringe. I will end on a positive thought. The action sequences, while rushed, were kind of cool. Other than that, you're wasting your time. Grade: C-

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