Devin vs Source Code

Source Code is an interesting movie.  I think it is a good movie and I'm pretty sure I liked it.  I am confused because I'll never buy it and I never want to watch it again.  But boy do I want to talk about it.  Source Code is directed by Duncan Jones, who created one of my favorite movies in the last few years, Moon.  If you haven't watched it, watch it immediately.  There are similarities between Source Code and Moon in that it deals with a very interesting concept but in a real world way.  The problem is that I feel Moon dealt with it's issue so much better than Source Code.  The actual concept of the movie is so awesome that I feel it gets dumbed down to try to appease the general audience.  Moon isn't a movie for everybody.  If you like mysteries you are going to love it because the entire movie is a "I wonder what is actually going on here," type of movie.  Source Code has mysteries but the answers are so damn obvious that they answer them 5 minutes after they are posed.  Even the concept of the movie "Source Code" is actually answered in the trailer.  The "how" it works is glossed over in the movie, but the problem is that the "how" is probably the most interesting part of the movie.  And because it's glossed over so much the "reveal" at the end of the movie has ZERO weight to it.  

At the highest level the concept is that Jake Gyllenhaal's character Captain Culter Stevens is entering the "Source Code" to relive 8 minutes of another man's life to try and find who bombed a train.  Kind of cool.  This involves a Groundhogs Day style structure that lends itself to a few comedic moments.  I'll tell you right now, the ride is the best part of this movie.  Don't go in thinking that the mystery is the best part of the movie.  The Sixth Sense created a twist to overcome a low quality movie, Source Code does the opposite.  Michelle Monaghan does a serviceable job as the "pretty girl."  The worst part is the forced love connection that Stevens has with her.  Trailer spoiler territory, but I don't get why he falls in love with her at all.  I understand his obligation to try and save the train, but falling in love with HER?  

So you would think that we have the recipe for a good mystery even without the "source code."  Where is the bomb?  Who is the bomber?  Why does he want to kill millions of people?  Can our hero stop him in time?  All of those answers are given with the least amount of fanfare possible.  Even the reveal of the bomber, probably the longest running mystery, I guessed the first time I saw him/her.  Now, I will say that the reason I thought they were the bomber was probably silly, but it turned out to be correct (the problem lies solely on the director and the editor for this reveal).  Then you through in the "source code" related mysteries, but they get revealed one at a time and the answer is EXACTLY what you think it is.  The only "reveal" isn't so much of a "oh wow, thats awesome," moment, but rather a "so they went that direction," moment.  

You might like Source Code if you liked: Moon, maybe.  Donnie Darko

You should probably just watch Moon instead.  

You might not like Source Code if you hated: Southland Tales.  Both have interesting concepts, one takes it too far, the other, not enough.

Now on to the Spoilers:

1. I guessed the bomber the moment the guy runs out the first time to return the wallet.  While I believe the moment was put there just to show how the same things happen over and over again (see also, the coffee spilling), it seemed out of place enough that he was my guess the entire movie.  And honestly, there never was another "oh it might be him," character in the movie.  And why did they go to the college kid TWICE in the movie.  The already seemed to count him out and then returned back to him for some reason.  

2. He was dead the entire time.  Yawn.  Glad that wasn't the big "reveal."

3. The room is all in his head.  Yawn.  Given away when the doctor said "is that what you see," or something to that affect.

4. I liked how completely unimportant catching the bomber in the real reality was.  Shown in news footage, no drama.  Oh, the entire point of the movie you just watched, not really that important.

5. And the whole "alternate reality," thing?  The Dr. said just as much the first time he explains "source code."  I understand he didn't really mean that he creates alternate realities, but come on.  Marvel comics have been using this theory to explain their version of time travel forever.  You can't change your past, but you can go back, change something and THAT creates a branching path.  The Fantastic Four did it in the "death of the Invisible Woman" storyline.  So Dr. Rutledge created the Source Code.  It basically takes a dead body and is able to use it as a vessel to revisit the last 8 minutes of that person's life.  What I don't understand is how he thought this was happening.  Rutledge seemed to think it WAS so sort of weird computer simulation, not an actually alternate reality.  The movie implies that Rutledge doesn't know alternative realities are being created (this of course assumes that Source Code creates alternate realities and that these realities didn't always exist).  Or it's possible Rutledge thinks time travel is possible, but they are unable to change the future.  But how would they know this since Stevens is the first candidate they've had.  Or maybe they've sent him back in time and tried to change the past, it just didn't change the future (see now this would have been cool to see and would have given more sympathy to Stevens).  What the movie seems to want to show us is that Source Code creates alternative realities that people are able to visit and make changes.  It makes me wonder about the 8 minutes though.  What is the point of that?  If the Source Code creates the alternate realities why is there a time limit?  The "halo" effect only lasts for 8 minutes after, but we've seen that the reality keeps going.  The entire reality can't be reliant on Stevens STAYING in that reality (which would mean only the final reality stayed and all others were erased).  What makes me wonder is how he jumps back from realities.  What would happen if Steven didn't die in the new reality?  I think that it is implied that Steven stays in the alternate reality until he dies.  In every version he dies and comes back.  Most of these happen because of the exploding train (exactly 8 minutes), but there are two instances where it doesn't happen that way.  The second time is when Steven finds the bomber and is shot.  When I first saw it it seemed to imply to me that after the train exploded he was pushed back to his normal reality.  But we know that doesn't happen because the first time he doesn't die on the train he doesn't return until he is run over by the other train.  There was a good minute or so between the train exploding and him getting hit by the train.  So my conclusion is that when he finds the bomber and is shot, he dies.  

Rules of Source Code:

1. You need a dead body to use as the anchor.

2. You need an almost dead body to transfer.

3. You can only travel 8 minutes in the past of the dead body

It has occurred to me that you never see the anchor's body.  You see Steven's body, but never see Sean's.  Rutledge does state that Source Code uses the "halo" of the brain to do this.  So they must have Sean's brain somewhere.

Rules of Source Code:

4. You must die to come back.

Now this part is interesting.  The time that the "pod" seemed to completely break down was when Stevens stayed longer than 8 minutes.  I'm not sure why this happened.  They never explain what happens, he just gets cold.  Which would seem to point to him just dying, all the way.  But does staying in the Source Code longer than expected cause more problems?  Is that the reason the 8 minute time limit really exists?  The only problem with that theory is that there seemed to be problems in the "pod" even prior to that.  

Comments

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