Summit

PG 13 93 min

To be honest I wasn't really up for yet another action thriller revolving around some kind of identity glitch, but this one has had some buzz going on for a good while.

Still since the genre is pretty well known there's a high bar for those who want to stand out, and SOURCE CODE does.

This one works on more than one level. First of all we need to figure out why Captain Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) is on a train heading for Chicago and who's the really cute girl (Michelle Monaghan) sitting with him.

Why also does he see a stranger when he looks in the mirror?

When the train blows up in a huge explosion Stevens wakes up in what seems to be a damaged plane capsule speaking via monitor screen with what seems to be a US officer who gives him a little talk about finding the bomb.

Now he's back on the train across from the cute girl and still wondering what the hell's going on. There's also a terrorist plot to figure out and a father with whom someone must make amends.

This reset is going to happen a few times before the good Captain or any in the audience figure out what's up. No doubt other critics will also be reminded of GROUNDHOG DAY but it's obvious enough.

I suppose in the hands of a hack director this could get annoying quickly but with each chapter you get just enough new information to move the story along.

It's all tied into a brilliant but insidious scientific experiment with plenty of governmental skullduggery, but that's hardly a new plot device.

At any rate as complicated as it may sound it's put together so well that there's not a roll of the eyes in the whole affair.

And I'm not revealing it but there's one of the best endings I've seen in a film of this nature in a long long time. Nothing fancy, just a good solid hook.

I'm not usually a huge fan of Gyllenhaal but he fits this role perfectly and the film is so damn enjoyable it should open up more roles for him.

This one is great fun and well worth it if you only see a few movies in a year.

A-

WSS

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