Walk into a movie theater. Stare at the electronic board of movie titles and names. Pick out a title that is not a prequel, sequel, remake, or adaptation of a book or play. I’m almost certain you cannot do the third option. That isn’t to say trilogies or comic book movies aren’t good. I love those movies, but an original story will always capture my imagination.
Duncan Jones, formerly Duncan Bowie (yes, David Bowie’s son), broke into Hollywood with his science fiction drama Moon (2009). The movie showed the creativity, instincts, and pacing of its director. Watching Moon only made me more excited for his next endeavor. He made his first movie a character piece with an unique environment, intense predicaments, and a creative third act.
Ben Ripley’s Source Code (2011) script was considered one of the best of 2007. It sat on the shelf until early 2010 when I heard that Duncan Jones would be directing. The only thing I knew about Source Code was that it’s a story about a soldier who could connect with a computer source code. For those of us who aren’t computer science majors, source code is just computer programming language. When we hit our keyboard or click our mouse, the computer interprets these strokes into commands.
Source Code is a science fiction thriller about an Army captain (Jake Gyllenhaal) who is reliving an explosion on a train. He finds his reflection to not be his own and a colleague (Michelle Monaghan) he does not remember. Quickly realizing he is on a mission, the captain must relive the train exploding to figure out why and who is doing it. He only has a certain amount of time and learns some dark secrets about his situation along the way.
The combination of Duncan Jones and Source Code only makes perfect sense. Instead of making a character piece, Jones makes a movie with messages. He poses questions about ethics of today in the world of science, health, and philosophy. The main character never really experiences character arch and therefore the movie isn’t his story or the movie is about something greater. The latter prevails.
This is the best movie I’ve seen so far of 2011. Prepare to have your emotions pulled, your mind thinking, and your adrenaline pumping.
Remember the name, Duncan Jones. But more importantly…
… see the movie Source Code.