Where the fuck were Al and Ziggy?

The most unbelievable thing about Source Code is seeing Russell Peters playing a comedian. If only he did that in real life! Not so unbelievable is the fact that he is just as rubbish an actor as he is a stand-up comedian.

Now I've got my anti-Russell Peters bit out of the way, on to Source Code. I have to say that after two Duncan Jones films, I'm still not completely sold on him as a director - and considering that his next film is apparently about World Of Warcraft, I think it's going to be a long time before I get the chance to be sold on him. I know that might sound like an odd thing to say considering that I rated this and Moon at 3.5 stars.

It may also be an unfair thing to say considering that my main issue with his previous film was Sam Rockwell. The thing is that to me both of his films have gaping problems with them that stopped me from enjoying them nearly as much as I probably should have done and I think that Jones really should easily have cured them. I would have ironed out Rockwell's performance in Moon and made him a far more sympathetic character(s) and with Source Code it would be to get rid of that bloody ending.

I just really hate the ending to this. As it is, considering this is a "time reassignment" film, it is already teetering on the brink of absolute nonsense for the most part. I have no problem with that as I do generally really like these kinds of films. But there is only so much good faith that I will afford any film and this one uses up way too much of that with its last 10 minutes. I don't really know what Jones was trying to do here, but the ending really would have been far better suited being sealed with a kiss.

The rest of it was really good, however, and Jones certainly makes a much better decision at the other end of the film by having the film hit the ground running from the offset. It settles down into pretty much the routine I expected and although it didn't play around enough with the repetition (I would have liked a greater concentration on repeating smaller segments such as the bathroom scene) for my liking, the way the mystery is unfolded and solved was very satisfactory.

I wouldn't have said it completely riveted me from the start and had me gripped throughout but it was certainly very enjoyable seeing the pieces very cleverly fall into place. My favourite part was only a very small one - where Jake Gyllenhaal finds himself so lost in Michelle Monaghan (totally on board with you there, Jake) that he forgets to have his ticket ready. Lovely little moment, that, and more of those would have made Source Code a lot better.

It's still really good and fortunately isn't derailed by a baffling performance from Jeffrey Wright. Wright's a great actor but he gets progressively worse as this film goes on, like he's working on a worsening stammer as it progresses. Not his best. Gyllenhaal is a reliable and workmanlike lead and he shows that once again, elevating the material when necessary. His scenes with Vera Farmiga, a fine actor herself, are really nicely done especially from her end.

Very enjoyable and solid sci-fi entertainment that isn't as intelligent as you think it's going to be - and when it tries to be, it goes off the rails a bit.