Source Code: Forgettable Title, Memorable Film

This week, on another venture to the $ theaters, I happened upon the Jake Gyllenhaal thriller Source Code. It was an April release with a forgettable title, so I didn't really expect much (though I should have since it received a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes)...but it was actually very good! It's funny, I had the chance to see it with my Dad when it came out, but we opted for the similar genre film The Adjustment Bureau, which was good too....but I preferred Source Code of the two. The plot is a real mindbender to even try and explain, but this was the summary from IMDB:

An action thriller centered on a soldier who wakes up in the body of an unknown man and discovers he's part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.

But a good description I read came from rottentomatoes, where a reviewer described it as Inception meets Groundhog Day as Jake's character gets to relive the last 8 minutes of a stranger's life over and over again until he can figure out whodunnit. The movie is intelligent, fascinating and entertaining. But it perhaps benefits the most from a very likable turn from Gyllenhaal whose reactions to every twist and turn mimic our own. It also keeps you on the edge of your seat and never drags on in its modest running time. It was definitely a fun adventure that makes you think a lot, and subsequently makes you want to see it again to see what you may have missed the first time around. Plus the ending is great. My brother Clayton compared it in terms of excitement and quality to Frequency. I definitely see a lot of similarities too. Both very solid films.

And, on another note, it was great to see the familiar Chicago scenery :) See blog from last September. That jellybean is one of my favorite places ever. I'd love to go back.

Random fact: The movie was directed by David Bowie's son. "Bowie's bumped into a door!"

This film receives an Emily rating of 8/10 and is branded as "I would have definitely paid for a matinee of this, but it's in dollar theater now so go see it for sure."