Duncan Jones's loopy sci-fi thriller makes little or no sense, towards the end especially, but it is such enormous fun and the acting is so thoroughly committed that it hardly matters.
Jake Gyllenhaal, furrowed brow in place, wakes up with a jolt on a Chicago commuter train. Opposite him is the lovely Christina (Michelle Monaghan), who keeps calling him Sean. Only he isn't Sean, he's Captain Colter Stevens, a pilot who was shot down in Afghanistan. He's confused, we're confused, and eight minutes later the train has been blown to bits. He wakes up again, this time in a battered module, with a shadowy controller (Vera Farmiga) informing him that he is part of a "time reassignment" programme, and that his mind will be projected into the body of a teacher called Sean, again and again, until he finds out the train bomber's identity.
Source Code is a giddy blend of Groundhog Day, Strangers on a Train and Quantum Leap, but what grips is the charming chemistry between Gyllenhaal and Monaghan. A blast.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments