Posted on Thursday, 21st April 2011 by Aidan Bayly
Jake Gyllenhall is someone I first became aware of, when I’m sure everyone else also became aware of him, when I saw ‘Donnie Darko’ at the cinemas way back when. Now that film, of course, was a stroke of genius on the part of the writer/director Richard Kelly, but Gyllenhall’s performance was so strong and interesting that it was almost guaranteed he would make it into bigger films in the years to come. Ten years later and Hollywood has tried a few times to make him into a massive star, though it’s never really worked out for him, yet. He’s done some great films such as ‘Zodiac’ and ‘Love and Other Drugs’, but his leading man summer blockbusters have never really taken him to that next level , though I still feel he has a few more massive films in him before Hollywood moves on from him in that way. So, when I saw the trailer for ‘Source Code’ I got excited as it looked like an in between film for him, not a massive summer blockbuster, but not a smaller film either and maybe this was somewhere he could succeed and lift him into that A+ world of top actors.
“Captain Colter Stevens is a decorated army helicopter pilot whose last memory is of his recent mission in Afghanistan, flying with his team while taking on enemy gunfire. He awakens on a train headed for Chicago with no memory of how he arrived there. His reflection is of a different man and his wallet says his name is Sean Fentress. Before he can understand what is happening, a bomb goes off and destroys the train. Stevens then awakens inside a chamber, where he is greeted through a computer screen by Capt. Colleen Goodwin, an Air Force officer who tells Stevens that he is inside the Source Code, a program that allows him to take over someone’s body in his or her last eight minutes of life. Earlier that day, a bomb exploded and destroyed a train headed into Chicago, the train that Stevens awoke on. Stevens’ mission is to locate the bomb, discover who built it, and report back to Goodwin before the bomber can detonate a second larger bomb, a dirty nuclear device, in downtown Chicago, which could cause the deaths of millions of people.”
With very much a sci-fi thriller plot line, I was instantly intrigued by the story that was unfolding on screen and kept me guessing what would happen next and how on earth the whole thing would end. With Gyllenhall in full control on screen, once again showing why he should be a massive movie star, really gave weight to the story that always felt grounded in reality and much grittier than what other such films may have gone for. A few bad casting choices and some little plot holes didn’t take away from the film and my enjoyment of it. Here’s hoping Gyllenhall keeps on getting these types of films as he really is worth his pay cheque.
8 out of 10 from me.
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