Source Code
Duncan Jones‘ “difficult second film” should have been just that, but alas. Striding expertly from Moon he formed the razor-sharp Sci-Fi Source Code which sees Gyllenhaal reliving a relentless commuter train journey in order to locate a lethal explosive.
Beautifully mixing big budget action with arthouse sensibilities, the film dazzled and dizzied in equal measure by employing Groundhog Day to an elaborate game of cat and mouse. Captain Colter Stevens awakes in another man’s body after being placed under government simulation and must continuously travel on-board scaling for clues whilst brutally racing against the clock and the inevitable detonation.
Surging through the breathless 93min running time, Gyllenhaal dominates in this multi-stranded facade; controlling the progression as eccentrically as journeying Stevens through conflicting states of emotion and urgency. Source Code is a remarkably tense and satisfying thriller; a film that surges adrenaline through the veins and bunches the fists as our hero battles to beat the improbable and unstoppable.
