Billed as a cross between Groundhog Day and Deja Vu, director Duncan Jones and writer Ben Ripley fashioned a taut and gripping science fiction thriller with Source Code. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal as US Army Captain Colter Stevens, it's a technically proficient movie with an intriguing premise that, for the most part, is sustained throughout its duration. Stevens wakes up and realises that he's in the body of a teacher called Sean Fentriss and discovers that he's on a mission to find the identity of a bomber on a train. The "Source Code" is an experimental device which allows him to experience the last eight minutes of another person's life in an alternative timeline, and using this device Stevens is able to piece together clues to track down the terrorist responsible for the attacks. While Source Code is undoubtedly a very effective thriller - Jones is clearly capable of channeling the spirit of Alfred Hitchcock, marrying the neat concept with decent pacing - the ending takes more than a few liberties so it can have its cake and eat it. Not only does Stevens figure out who the terrorist is, he proves that the Source Code device works and appears to live out a happy ever after ending with the ubiquitous love interest. A potentially intriguing and ambiguous ending seemed to have been thrown out of the window in favour of typical Hollywood sentimentality. Again.
