Movie Box Review

They say that the definition of madness is repeating the same action with the expectation of a different result.  But that diagnosis doesn't allow for this:  a man (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up and finds himself on a train, where his reflection in the mirror doesn't look like himself, and the woman in the next seat (Michelle Monaghan) who apparently knows him doesn't address him as himself.  Eight minutes later he, the girl, and the train all blow up... and the man wakes up again, to find himself seemingly in the middle of a mad government experiment (under the direction of Army officer Vera Farmiga and scientist Jeffrey Wright), his mission to find out who planted that bomb on the train by reliving the last 8 minutes of that other man's life over and over again, hunting for clues.  That's the premise of SOURCE CODE, an intriguing sci-fi action movie twist on Groundhog Day.   

Although Source Code comes from director Duncan Jones, who last gave us the indie fantasy Moon (see review here), there's nothing esoteric about this genre exercise.  Ben Ripley's script isn't particularly interested in Groundhog Day-like existential comedy, either--despite its unusual premise, and the even more convoluted explanation of Gyllenhaal's actual place in the story, the picture is very much focused on solving its twin mysteries:  who bombed that train, and what's the experiment all about?  In truth, it's not all that hard to figure out either answer by the film's halfway point, but the picture is carried along by its brisk pace and the moderately clever way it works everything out. 

Although Source Code doesn't have a massive budget, it's certainly many times that of Moon, and Jones handles the digital explosions and thriller mechanics effectively (having proven his prowess, it would be sad if his next move is to a mega-budgeted superhero epic).  His technical team includes the very experienced Don Burgess (Spiderman) as cinematographer and Paul Hirsch (Mission Impossible) as editor.  Gyllenhaal, whose career has bounced around, has a part that's well suited to him:  not full-fledged action hero, but Hitchcockian ordinary guy thrust into a crazy situation.  Vera Farmiga, most of the time confined to a monitor screen in Gyllenhaal's testing area, proves that she can give a full-fledged performance in a box (it's like Beckett's "Happy Days" as a genre role), but Monaghan doesn't get to do much more than look attractive and be charming, and Wright is hobbled by having to play the most cliched character.

Source Code isn't a truly satisfying puzzle movie; the last reel, in particular, doesn't stand up to much scrutiny, and it doesn't have any ambition to "mean" something.  In a year where Sucker Punch represents Hollywood's idea of action fantasy, though--it'll do.  

(SOURCE CODE - Summit - PG 13 - 93 min.- Director:  Duncan Jones - Script:  Ben Ripley - Cast:  Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright - Wide Release)

SOURCE CODE is this weekend's major live-action opening, so here's a look at some recent work by its star Jake Gyllenhaal and its director Duncan Jones.

Gyllenhaal has had a curious Hollywood career thus far, and PRINCE OF PERSIA:  THE SANDS OF TIME, far from his most auspicious moment, was his first pre-Source Code attempt to carry a Hollywood action movie.  Gyllenhaal started out playing sensitive teens in pictures like October Sky and the cult-hit Donnie Darko, and eased his way into sensitive young men roles in The Good Wife and Moonlight Mile.  He made his big-ticket Hollywood debut in The Day After Tomorrow, which made a pile of money, although relatively little of it was attributed to him.  The following year, he scored a major critical and indie box-office hit with Brokeback Mountain--but again, it was co-star Heath Ledger who won the Best Actor nomination, while Gyllenhaal was relegated to Supporting.  In the half-dozen years since, Gyllenhaal has made largely interesting choice that haven't paid off at the box-office (Zodiac, Jarhead, Rendition, Love and Other Drugs, Brothers).  He, and no doubt his advisors, decided it was time for a blockbuster action franchise.

Unfortunately, Prince of Persia wasn't it.  Based on a video game and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, the film offered plenty of CG creatures, time travel, and PG-13 violence.  But the picture, directed by the usually
very fine Mike Newell (whose credits include the much better fantasy adventure Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), was burdened by a lousy script (credited to Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard, although as with most Bruckheimer epic one assumes there were other contributors).  And Gyllenhaal, although he had buffed himself up to play a shirtless hero, was about as convincing a Persian prince as--well, as Seth Rogen would be as the Green Hornet (if you could imagine such a thing).  The picture was made with everything except imagination, emotional commitment or a spirit of fun, and on a rumored $200M budget (meaning closer to $350M when global marketing costs are included), it made $335M.  (It also did over 70% of its business overseas, a phenomenon discussed in Mitch Metcalf's column today.) Not the way to start a franchise, or a mainstream Hollywood action career.  On Starz networks and homevideo:  Still Not Worth Seeing.

Duncan Jones' MOON is an entirely different kind of fantasy.  Written by Nathan Parker (from a story by Jones), it's an indie brain-teasing piece of sci-fi.  It concerns an astronaut (Sam Rockwell) stationed on the moon under a corporate contract to periodically send fuel back to Earth.  He's completely isolated except for his computer sidekick (voice of Kevin Spacey).  And then one day he discovers that he has an exact double on the moon with him.  Is the other him a hallucination?  A clone?  The movie cleverly questions identity and existential purpose, all within the context of a puzzle thriller.  Jones' modest first film was screened and bought at Sundance, and on a very minimal budget managed to gross $10M worldwide, enough to get Jones promoted to a moderate Hollywood budget and the chance to work with a movie star like Jake Gyllenhaal.  On Starz networks and homevideo; At Home In Your Home.