Superdog Reviews Source Code

Source Code is the newest time travel thriller Starring Jake Gyllenhaal. The basic plot is that Gyllenhaal plays a military pilot who is part of an experimental government program. I won't go into too many of the details about how the program works so as to not get confusing, or to give away any plot spoilers. Suffice it to say the "SourceCode" allows Gyllenhaal's mind to be transported into the last eight minutes of memories from a dead person. The dead person being someone who was earlier blown to bits on a commuter train with several hundred other people. The bomber of that train is still on the loose and threatening to detonate a larger bomb in the city of Chicago.

The goal is for Gyllenhaal's character to explore the memories of the dead person on the train in an attempt to find the bomber. He is sent back into the those eight minutes several times in order to accomplish his mission. The only problem is he can actually interact with the people in the Sourcecode as opposed to just looking around as an observer. While in the Code he falls in love with Michelle Monoghans character who is a passenger on the train.

As a result he attempts to change the past by keeping her, and eventually everyone else on the train alive. This is the central scientific theme of the story. Can Gyllenhaal change the past? Is this truly just a "shadow" of a memory or is he really traveling back in time? Is he creating alternate realities or possibly, is all this just playing out in his mind?

The hunt for the bomb is just the narrative that moves the story forward, the true mission here is for Gyllenhaal to discover things about himself, and determine whether he's more of a hero by completing his mission to find the bomber, or by trying to save the lives of the people he has come to know by his many trips to the past. What is the true definition of hero? What is the value of life, and what is worth living and dying for? These are the true themes of the movie and they are played out quite well, and Gyllenhaal portrays the struggle his character has with these questions masterfully.
This is by far in my opinion one of Gyllenhaal finest performances ever. The rest of the performances are really inconsequential since it is both Gyllenhaal the actor, and his character, that drive this entire movie. The larger issues of duty, heroism and self discovery were quite a surprise in what I expected to just be a standard time bending movie. I really enjoyed this movie and would highly recommend it.

I give this movie 4 out of 5 stars.