“Source Code” (2011) is a dynamic and remarkably innovative amalgamation of science fiction, action, adventure and thriller elements that stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Captain Colter Stevens, a U.S. Army pilot who awakens on a commuter train headed to Chicago, inhabiting the body of a school teacher named Sean Fentress. With most recent memories of flying a combat mission in Afghanistan, Stevens is disoriented and unaware of how he came to arrive in this alien environment, only for the train to explode in a cacophonous frenzy that kills all aboard. Awakening in a dimly lit capsule, he’s informed by Air Force Captain Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) that he has been assigned to a classified and highly experimental mission to locate the train bomber—and immediately reinserts him to the same point in time. As the storyline progresses, Stevens repeats the same 8-minute sequence repeatedly as he desperately scrambles to identify the terrorist and ultimately save the lives of his fellow passengers. Directed by Duncan Jones (“Moon”, “Warcraft”), “Source Code” is a exhilarating twist on the “Groundhog Day” formula, with Stevens’ repeated attempts to forestall catastrophe playing out in an intelligent and creative manner while delivering unexpected twists and surprising revelations. Replete with humanistic characters and a refreshing degree of palpable emotion, it’s a entirely well-rounded and satisfying conception.
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