Source Code – Review
by john on Apr.12, 2011, under Reviews
Picture the scene. Some lazy Saturday afternoon, a writer is recovering from a rough night in Hollywood. He’s on his fourth rerun of Quantum Leap when he changes the channel to Groundhog Day. Despite the haze in his mind, a neuron manages to fire a single spark. Our writer calls up his buddy and says, “Dude. I got an idea for a movie.”
And so we have Source Code. Thankfully, Quantum Leap and Groundhog Day are both awesome, so their combination isn’t crappy. Here, we get a dude (Jake Gyllenhaal) jumping leaping into the mind of a dead guy. Or soon-to-be dead guy. He’s got eight minutes to find a bomb before it goes off. When he gets blown into Chunky Beef Stew, he restarts the level and tries again.
Now repeatedly showing people the same eight minutes is a dangerous formula. Thankfully, things are handled well and every jump leap seems new and interesting. It tries to take the serious Sci-Fi road, but Jake manages to squeeze some humor out of his situation. It all works great for a fun, Summer Movie kinda ride.
If you miss Quantum Leap, check out Source Code. And yes, that stupid title is stupid. Check it out anyway.
Grade: B
