April 2011 ~ Movie Lurk

(SPOILER ALERT) I had the opportunity to attend the Black Carpet Premiere event for Source Code, so I was able to get a sneak peak at the film before opening day. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. After seeing trailers, I was not overly excited to see the film and just assumed it was going to be another Hollywood action blockbuster that you see once and that's it. I was a bit too judgmental.

The first change of heart I had is when I saw that Duncan Jones (Director of Moon) was directing the film. This immediately change my pre-judgement. We are talking about a guy who wrote and directed an amazing mind blowing film, which was low budget, and made an absolutely incredible film. Now he had a bit beefier studio backing him up (Summit Entertainment) on an interesting story plot.

I was able to speak with Duncan Jones at the premiere and he said that Jake Gyllenhaal brought him the script (written by Ben Ripley) and said he was in. Once Jones heard that, he said "I'm in" (see the video of my interviews below).

Source Code Black Carpet Premiere

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Gyllenhaal (Captain Colter Stevens) plays the role of a military captain who has been commissioned to take on a special mission using a new technology known as "Source Code", which is a program that is able to recreate 8 minutes of someones memory and allow someone to be placed back in that memory.

Steven's mission is to find a terrorist who is known to have blown up a train and is threatening the entire city of Chicago. By doing so, he must re-enter Source Code again and again until he is able to put the pieces of together, while at the same time managing a little love affair that is taking place with Michelle Monaghan (Christina Warren). In the process of the mission, Stevens struggles with the notion of what is reality and what is simply "code" of a program.

Duncan Jones does an amazing job of telling the story and providing some really great cinematic shots. It can be a difficult task to keep viewers engaged, when showing the same 8 minutes over and over again and Jones does this fantastically.

Gyllenhaal did a great job playing the part and really portraying the type of real emotions that would be present in a situation as in the movie. There is definitely romantic chemistry between the two as well with some subtle comedic relief that keeps things fresh.

Personally, I found Jeffrey Wright's role (Dr. Rutledge) less to be desired, which surprised me, because I enjoy him in other movies. I just never truly believed him in his character and always felt that "your acting" feeling that a good acting performance doesn't leave you with.

Visually, the movie is very stimulating, with plenty of explosions and wonderful camera pans. The movie itself should be a hit in the box office, because of its wide appeal it should have on audiences. It appeals to the independent film fan because of the cinematic display that Duncan Jones puts on, while also delivers a feast for those blockbuster appetites of big explosions and CGI that viewers are demanding nowadays.