Sent into the body of a commuter and tasked via a secret governmental program with repeatedly living out the same eight minutes leading up to a terrorist-triggered train explosion outside of Chicago, military helicopter pilot Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) must balance his mission training with a growing sympathy for fellow traveler Christina (Michelle Monaghan). With the possibility of a second-wave attack looming on the horizon, a wildly disoriented Colter must gather clues and attempt to identify the culprit, while also trying to pry important details out of his remote handlers (Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright) as to his own condition.



Penned by Ben Ripley, Source Code slots comfortably within a grand Hollywood tradition of science-fiction-tinged, high-concept techno-thrillers impatient with the nitty-gritty specifics of their own conceits (“Every second explaining things puts more lives at risk!” one character barks). So it requires you make a little leap with it, to suspend disbelief. And yet it’s a leap so easy to make, and completely worth taking.

Director Duncan Jones, taking a step up in budget from Moon, orchestrates the balance between the movie’s considerable effects work and human stakes with assurance and skill. Casting matters hugely in an endeavor like this as well, and Source Code‘s quartet of main players is more than up to the task of breathing multi-dimensionality into the material, enlivening replayed interactions and layering them with subtle but substantive and realistic physical differentiations. The result is a lively thriller that deftly acknowledges its inherent ridiculousness, but still manages to tickle the brain while also quickening an audience’s collective pulse. (Summit, PG-13, 103 minutes)