SOURCE CODE

Director: Duncan Jones

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright

DUNCAN Jones’ much anticipated follow up to Moon doesn’t fail to entertain, I’m glad to say.

Jones has ploughed his own furrow (with only occasional press mentions of his famous dad David Bowie). Source Code maintains a sci-fi theme but is a step up from his debut that got everyone excited, apart from those people who hand out the gongs.

This latest tale sees Gyllenhaal as a soldier (Colter Stevens) who wakes up to discover he’s part of a mission to discover who bombed a train, killing everyone on board.

Using the ‘Source Code’ software, he’s sent back on board the train in the body of another man and has eight minutes each time to track down the bomber who is threatening to wreak more havoc.

It’s a great storyline on its own, but there are further twists and turns as he attempts to expose the killer, falls for the girlfriend (Monaghan) of the man whose body he’s in and discovers the truth about the Source Code.

The only real downside I encountered was trying to work out the logic of the final scenes - it was better not to bother analysing it too much.

Gyllenhaal is a classy actor and he makes the most of the role of a confused, heroic and caring man dumped into a bizarre scenario. Monaghan has little to do except ooze charm which she does well, while Farmiga as Colter Stevens’ main contact outside the Source Code at least has a more varied role.

Jones’ penchant for close head shots puts the pressure on the actors but they all cope well.

So, if you fancy a decent sci-fi thriller, love story, action movie then this will do nicely.

three out of five stars

Steve Payne