| Source Code | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Duncan Jones |
| Written by | Ben Ripley |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Don Burgess |
| Edited by | Paul Hirsch |
| Music by | Chris Bacon |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Summit Entertainment |
Release dates |
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Running time | 93 minutes |
| Countries | |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $31.9 million[2] |
| Box office | $147.3 million[3] |
Source Code is a 2011science fictionaction thriller film[4] directed byDuncan Jones and written byBen Ripley. It starsJake Gyllenhaal as aUS Army officer who is sent into an eight-minute virtual re-creation of a real-life train explosion, and tasked with determining the identity of the terrorist who bombed it.Michelle Monaghan,Vera Farmiga, andJeffrey Wright play supporting roles.
It had its world premiere on March 11, 2011, atSouth by Southwest and was released bySummit Entertainment on April 1, 2011, in North America and Europe. It received positive reviews from critics and was a box office success, grossing over $147.3 million on a $31.9 million budget.[3][5]
U.S. Army pilot Captain Colter Stevens wakes up on aMetra[6] commuter train going into Chicago. He is disoriented, as his last memory was of flying a mission in Afghanistan. However, to the world around him – including his friend Christina Warren and his reflection in the train's windows and mirrors – he appears to be a different man: a school teacher named Sean Fentress. As he expresses his confusion to Christina, the train explodes while passing another train, killing everyone aboard.
Stevens abruptly awakens in a dimly lit cockpit. Communicating through a video screen, Air Force Captain Colleen Goodwin verifies Stevens's identity and tells him of his mission to find the train bomber before sending him back to the moment he awoke on the train. Believing he is being tested in a simulation, Stevens finds the bomb in a vent inside the lavatory but is unable to identify the bomber. Still thinking he is in a simulation, Stevens leaves the bomb and goes back down to the main cabin before the train explodes again.
Stevens again reawakens in his capsule and after demanding to be briefed, learns that the train explosion actually happened and that it was merely the first attack of a suspected series. He is sent back yet again, eight minutes before the explosion, to identify the bomber. This time, he disembarks from the train (with Christina) to follow a suspect. This turns out to be a dead end, the train still explodes in the distance, and Stevens is killed by a passing train after falling onto the tracks while interrogating the suspect.
The capsule power supply malfunctions as Stevens reawakens. He claims to have saved Christina, but Dr. Rutledge, head of the project, tells him that she was saved only inside the "Source Code". Rutledge explains that the Source Code is an experimental machine that reconstructs the past using the dead passengers' residual collective memories of eight minutes before their deaths. Therefore, the only thing that matters is finding the bomber to prevent the upcoming second attack in Chicago.
On the next run, Stevens learns that he was reported as killed in action two months earlier. He confronts Goodwin, who reveals that he is missing most of his body, is on life support, and is hooked up to neural sensors. The capsule and his healthy body are "manifestations" made by his mind to make sense of the environment. Stevens is angry at this forced imprisonment. Rutledge offers toterminate him after the mission, and Stevens eventually accepts.
After numerous attempts, including being arrested by train security for trying to obtain a weapon, Stevens identifies the bomber through a fallen wallet as the nihilistic domestic terrorist Derek Frost. He memorizes Frost's license and vehicle registration plates, and discovers adirty bomb built inside a van owned by Frost; Christina follows him, and Frost shoots both of them dead.
Outside the Source Code, Stevens relays his knowledge to Goodwin, which helps the police arrest Frost and prevents the second attack. He is congratulated for completing his mission. Rutledge secretly reneges on his deal to let Stevens die, as he is still the only candidate able to enter the Source Code.
Being more sympathetic to his plight, Goodwin sends Stevens back one last time and promises to disconnect his life support after eight minutes. This time, he sets a date with Christina, defuses the bomb, apprehends Frost, and reports him to the police. He calls his father under the guise of a fellow soldier and reconciles with him, and sends Goodwin an email. After eight minutes, Goodwin terminates Stevens's life support.
As the world around him continues to progress beyond eight minutes, Stevens confirms his suspicion that the Source Code is not merely a simulation, but rather a machine that allows the creation of alternate timelines. He and Christina leave the train and go on a date. In the same (alternate) reality, Goodwin receives Stevens's message. He tells her of the Source Code's true capability and asks her to help the alternate-reality version of him.
David Hahn, the boy depicted in the 2003 made-for-television documentaryThe Nuclear Boy Scout, was the inspiration for the antagonist Derek Frost.[7] In an article published by theWriters Guild of America, screenwriterBen Ripley is described as providing the original pitch to the studios responsible for producingSource Code:[8]
When Ripley first came up with the idea forSource Code, in which government operative Colter Stevens repeatedly relives the eight minutes leading up to a terrorist train bombing in hopes of finding the bomber, he had no intention of writing it on spec. Having established himself in Hollywood largely doing "studio rewrites on horror movies", he felt a solid pitch would do the trick. Unfortunately, it didn't. "I sat down with a few producers, and the first couple just looked at me like I was nuts", confesses Ripley. "Ultimately, I had to put it on the page to make my case."
The originalspec script was originally sold toUniversal Pictures in 2007 but was ranked onThe Black List of top unproduced screenplays.[9]
After seeingMoon, Gyllenhaal lobbied for Jones to directSource Code; Jones liked the fast-paced script; as he later said: "There were all sorts of challenges, and puzzles, and I kind of like solving puzzles, so it was kind of fun for me to work out how to achieve all these difficult things that were set up in the script."[10]
In the ending scene, Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan's characters are seen walking throughMillennium Park and making their way to theCloud Gate. In a 2011 interview, Gyllenhaal discussed how director Duncan Jones felt that the structure was a metaphor for the movie's subject matter and aimed for it to feature at the beginning and end of the movie.[11]
Principal photography began on March 1, 2010, inMontreal,Quebec, and ended on April 29, 2010.[12] Several scenes were shot inChicago, Illinois, specifically atMillennium Park and the Main Building at theIllinois Institute of Technology, although the sign showing the name of the latter, in the intersection of 31st Street and S LaSalle Street, was edited out.
Initially, some filming was scheduled at theOttawa Train Station inOttawa, Ontario,[13] but was canceled for lack of an agreement with VIA Rail.[14]
Editing took place in Los Angeles. In July 2010, the film was in thevisual effects stage of postproduction.[15] Most of the VFX work was handled by Montreal studios, includingMoving Picture Company,Rodeo FX, Oblique FX, and Fly Studio.[16] Jones had confirmed that the film's soundtrack would be composed byClint Mansell, in his second collaboration with the composer.[17] Mansell was announced as no longer scoring the soundtrack due to time constraints.[18]
The film received its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 11, 2011.[19]Summit Entertainment released the film to theaters in the United States and Canada on April 1, 2011. In France, the film was released on April 20, 2011.[20]
Source Code was released onDVD andBlu-ray simultaneously in the United States on July 26, 2011,[21][22] with the United Kingdom release on DVD and Blu-ray (as well as a combined DVD/Blu-ray package) on August 15, 2011.[23] In the UK, there was also a Blu-ray/DVD "Double Play" release featuring a lenticular slipcover.
Source Code grossed $54.7 million in the United States and Canada and $92.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $147.3 million, against a production budget of $32 million.[24]
The film was released in theaters on April 1, 2011. In the United States and Canada,Source Code was released theatrically in 2,961 conventional theaters.[25] The film made $14.8 million and debuted second on its opening weekend.[25]
Despite its grosses, according to director Duncan Jones, the studio claims that the film has never turned a profit, which is attributed toHollywood accounting.[26]
Review aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes reports a 92% approval rating, based on an aggregation of 266 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The site's consensus reads: "Finding the human story amidst the action, director Duncan Jones and charming Jake Gyllenhaal craft a smart, satisfying sci-fi thriller."[5]Metacritic awarded the film an average score of 74/100, based on 41 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[27] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[28]
Critics have comparedSource Code with both the 1993 filmGroundhog Day[29][30][31] and British film directorTony Scott's 2006 time-altering science fiction filmDéjà Vu: in the latter case, the similarity of plotline in the protagonist's determination to change the past was highlighted, and his emotional commitment to save the victim, rather than simply try to discover the identity of the perpetrator of the crime.[32] Alternatively, it has been described as a "cross betweenGroundhog Day andMurder on the Orient Express",[33] whileThe Arizona Republic film critic Bill Goodykoontz says that comparingSource Code toGroundhog Day is doing a disservice toSource Code's enthralling "mind game".[34]
Richard Roeper of theChicago Sun-Times called the film "Confounding, exhilarating, challenging – and the best movie I've seen so far in 2011."[5]Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, calling it "an ingenious thriller" where "you forgive the preposterous because it takes you to the perplexing".[35]Kenneth Turan of theLos Angeles Times called Ben Ripley's script "cleverly constructed" and a film "crisply directed by Duncan Jones". He also praised the "cast with the determination and ability to really sell its story".[36]CNN called Ripley's script "ingenious" and the film "as authoritative an exercise in fractured storytelling asChristopher Nolan'sMemento". He also commented that Gyllenhaal is "more compelling here than he's been in a long time".[33]
| Year | Group | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Scream Awards[37] | Best Science Fiction Actor | Jake Gyllenhaal | Nominated |
| Bradbury Award[38] | Bradbury Award | Ben Ripley andDuncan Jones | Nominated | |
| 2012 | Hugo Award[39] | Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form | Nominated | |
| Visual Effects Society Awards[40] | Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture | Annie Godin, Louis Morin | Nominated |
SOURCE CODE is a sci-fi action thriller about a soldier who wakes up on a train in the body of a stranger, and is told that he must locate the train's bomber within eight minutes.
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