Duncan Jones wrote and directed a smart indie science fiction movie titled Moon that attracted some critical praise a couple years ago. Source Code is Jones’ big-budget debut and it’s notable for how skillfully it melds action-movie brawn with the brains and heart of geekier fare. The movie begins Army captain Colter Stevens waking up on a commuter train and sitting across from a young woman he doesn’t recognize, but who seems to know him. He has no memory of how he got there and he soon discovers that he’s occupying a stranger’s body. Before he can figure out what’s going on, the train ride comes to an abrupt and grim end.
Colter wakes again to find himself in something resembling a space capsule and speaking to another military officer via a video screen. She informs him that he is part of a military project whose urgent mission is to identify the individual who bombed that same train earlier in the day. The man whose body he inhabits in the simulation died in the bombing and Colter is interfacing with that man’s recovered memories to recreate those last few minutes on the train. The movie is essentially a locked-room puzzle and Jones gives the viewer several false clues before revealing both the identity of the bomber and the true scope of Colter’s predicament.
It’s a clever story, but the characters are what gives the movie its weight. Gyllenhaal is certainly a dashing presence and he has the acting chops to convey the fear and confusion he feels throughout his mission. Jones also wraps up the story with a resolution that any science fiction afficionado will see coming long before most of the audience, but it’s still effective and even a little moving.
