I needed something short today, so I came across Source Code and thought it sounded pretty interesting. I’m glad I gave this a chance, because I ended up really enjoying it. 

By far my favorite aspect of the film was its plot. This has a fantastic premise, and it was executed brilliantly in my opinion. Despite the time-loop subgenre being a little overdone nowadays, this was definitely able to feel original and unique for me. 

I love how it really committed to making this a mystery above anything else. Of course it had elements of action and science-fiction, but at its core this felt like a whodunnit movie. The pacing of the clues was very well-done, too. There was never really a point where I felt bored or uninterested. I would imagine it’s difficult to make something like this not feel repetitive, but thankfully they pulled it off. 

I also have to mention Jake Gyllenhaal. He’s easily one of my favorite actors, and this movie perfectly displays why. It doesn’t matter that this is just some fun B-movie thriller; he won’t phone-in a performance at all. At this point I generally expect a lot from him, and yet he still surprised me by how good he was here. Despite him being such s recognizable face, I absolutely bought him as his character 100% of the time. 

As much as I ire the story and the pacing and all that, I still had a little issue involving the focus. I think I would’ve liked this a lot better if it had payed more attention to the characters on the train, and just left it at that. I understand the need to explain the time-loop stuff, but I thought it got a little carried away at times. Don’t get me wrong, I love Vera Farmiga, but pretty much all of the scenes with her were significantly less compelling for me, as it felt like it interrupted the tension rather than adding to it.  

I guess that’s more of a personal preference than an actual film-flaw, since some of that information was actually necessary to the plot. Hopefully you can at least see where I’m coming from with that. 

But with all things considered, Source Code was still an inventive, thrilling mystery that I’d probably get more out of on rewatch.