Everest (6/10) The Magnificent mountain imposes over the characters.

“Human beings simply aren't built to function at the cruising altitudes of a seven-forty-seven.”

Based on the true events that took place in Mount Everest on May 1996 during a climbing expedition to reach the summit of the mountain, this disaster movie directed by Baltasar Kormakur stands out for its fantastic and impressive visuals. However what it has in its visual department, it lacks in character development. The only strong character here is Jason Clarke’s Rob Hall who is the heart and soul of a story that is a bit overpopulated with characters who don’t get enough screen time for us to really identify with them. The narrative could’ve worked better with fewer characters, but the magnificent mountain does end up taking center stage and the visual style makes up for all its flaws. Some patience is required as we are introduced to each character at the beginning of the film, but once the preparation for the climbing begins its hard not to fall in love with all the beauty surrounding them and the passion these climbers had for reaching the summit. Kormakur does manage to establish the harsh conditions these men would have to endure to reach the top while they acclimatize to the region, which makes the approaching menacing storm during the second half of the film even more dreadful. Including so many characters and trying to remain true as possible to the real life events may have hurt the narrative arc of the film, but the scenery more than makes up for it.

By 1996 the climbing expeditions to reach the peak of Mount Everest had become a sought out tourist attraction. The nearly impossible task wasn’t only achieved by professional climbers, but now amateurs could achieve their dream by paying for the service of well trained expedition companies that facilitated the acclimatizing process. One company is being led by experienced climber, Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) who is preparing his new crew for the upcoming adventure. He leaves his pregnant wife, Jan (Keira Knightley) at home and heads off to Nepal to meet the team. This year the clients are Doug (John Hawkes), a returning customer who hadn’t been able to reach the summit the previous year, Yasuko (Naoko Mori) who has climbed 6 of the 7 highest peaks of the planet and is hoping to complete her adventure, Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin) who is so immersed in the experience that he’s forgotten to call his wife, Peach (Robin Wright) for their anniversary, among many others. Rob is worried about the growing amount of expeditions that are heading to the summit around the same time so he asks other experienced leaders like Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal) to team up with his people. Other employees working at the mountain include Helen (Emily Watson) who is in charge of communications from the base camp and Guy Cotter (Sam Worthington) another experienced crew member who is a friend of Rob’s. As hard as they were working to give their clients a memorable experience, there was nothing they could do to anticipate the storm that was heading their way. 

Kormakur had previously directed two very different action flicks starring Mark Wahlberg (Contraband and 2 Guns), but this is more of an epic disaster film with some tense moments of human drama. The cast is brilliant, but as I mentioned before there isn’t enough time to get to know them all. Jason Clarke is the actor who is given more depth and he is allowed to flesh his character, but the rest are simply there as recognizable names: Worthington, Gyllenhaal, Knightley, Hawkes, and Watson don’t have much moments to shine which is a shame because they are talented actors. Perhaps the only other actor we truly get to know beside Clarke is Josh Brolin who gets some more screen time as well. But despite all the big names, the truly breathtaking character here is the Mountain which imposes an immense threat for everyone, even for the professionals who think they are part of it. I was a bit underwhelmed with the movie because I wanted to care more for these characters, but I did enjoy the breathtaking visuals and the marvelous landscape.    

Southpaw (7/10): Jake "The Great" Gyllenhaal delivers a knock out performance.

“Billy Hope knows how to take a punch, but he also drops bombs.”

Antoine Fuqua’s third film in the same amount of years may not be as exciting as last year’s The Equalizer, but it does benefit from having one of the best performance’s of the year. Jake Gyllenhaal’s commitment to the role is reason enough to recommend the movie and forgive some of its generic dramatic flaws. Training Day still remains Fuqua’s best film, but Gyllenhaal’s physical transformation gives Denzel Washington some competition here for best performance in a Fuqua film. When the film focuses on the boxing scenes it is at the top of its game, but when it stretches the drama towards the family dynamics it loses its appeal by feeling too conventional and melodramatic. Fuqua was aiming at directing an authentic film and stylistically it succeeds, but the beats are way too familiar and it’s full of cliches. What I loved about the realism in the boxing scenes is that Fuqua created a sense of illusion for the audience of being a ringside spectator, as the sound of the fans cheering drowned down the voice of the TV commentators giving us a sense of witnessing the event from up close. Despite his efforts to make the film look authentic, boxing fans know that the sport isn’t as exciting as they made it out to be here. Gyllenhaal got all the right moves and mannerisms for his character, but we know there aren’t as many punches thrown in real life and that most of the rounds are spent with the referee trying to break up the fighters from hugging each other so much. Gyllenhaal saves this film from the familiar melodrama and cliches found in the genre, which just goes on to prove how difficult it is to do what Stallone did with the Rocky franchise. That was one of the rare cases where both the drama and the sport combined perfectly to deliver an emotional punch to audiences around the globe. I think Fuqua was aiming a bit too high here trying to direct a modern day version of Raging Bull, but there are just some films that can’t be imitated no matter what great of a cast you have.  

This was writer Kurt Sutter’s first film screenplay, despite having written for successful TV shows such as The Shield and Sons of Anarchy prior to this. He begins the story by introducing us to boxer, Billy Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal), as he is in the locker room getting prepared for his fight. His wife, Maureen (Rachel McAdams), who has been with him since the two were young teenagers, is next to him as the trainers are giving him the last instructions and putting on his gloves. When his name is called by the announcers we find out that he is the undefeated champion in his division and has accumulated more than 40 wins. The arena is packed and everyone is chanting his name, but the fight doesn’t begin as well as he had hoped. After receiving several punches throughout the first rounds, Hope finally reacts and knocks his opponent out in the tenth round. The media goes crazy over him during the press conference after the fight where he is once again accompanied by Maureen and his promoter, Jordan Mains (50 Cent). The conference is interrupted by Miguel Escobar (Miguel Gomez), a young upcoming contender who wants his shot at the title, but he is dismissed by Billy. When he finally returns to his beautiful home, Billy gives his young daughter Leila (Oona Laurence) a goodnight kiss and cuddles with her for a while. Everything seems perfect for him, but his life crumbles when his wife is killed in a tragic accident and for the first time in his life he doesn’t have someone there guiding him in his every move. His suicidal and erratic behavior makes him lose everything including the house and his daughter who is sent to child protection services. After touching bottom and in order to get his life back on track, Billy enlists the help of Tick Willis (Forest Whitaker) who takes him in to his gym and begins training him for his shot at redemption.

The plot is way too familiar and it hits every possible cliche along the way, but despite it all Jake Gyllenhaal elevates the material by making his character compelling. I didn’t believe some of the melodramatic moments, but the boxing and training scenes were enough for me to enjoy it. The film puts a lot of emphasis on the father and daughter relationship and it isn’t always believable how easy it goes from a love hate relationship from one scene to the next. There are also several subplots that distract from the main story and slow down the pacing of the film. For instance, the relationship Billy builds with one of the kids in Tick’s gym only serves as a way for us to sympathize with the main protagonist and believe in his transformation, but it doesn’t go anywhere else with it. The film introduces several scenes like this as a convenient means to move along the story, but they don’t add up too much. You know exactly where the story is heading at the end, but you can’t help but feel engaged by Gyllenhaal’s performance, and in the end he is the reason why the film succeeds along with other solid supporting work from McAdams and Whitaker.  

Nightcrawler (8/10): Dan Gilroy and Jake Gyllenhaal channeling Scorsese and De Niro

“That's my job, that's what I do, I'd like to think if you're seeing me you're having the worst day of your life.”

Dan Gilroy’s feature debut is not only an impressive and dark character study of a persistent and ambitious man, but it also is a social critique of our culture’s obsession over bloody and graphic news stories. It would be easy for Gilroy to center his screenplay on the cheap criticism of today’s TV news stations motto, “If it bleeds, it leads,” but it goes beyond that and makes us wonder why we as an audience eat up those news stories. There is a reason why the media feeds us these graphic stories and it is because we have this morbid fascination for these kind of stories. That is exactly what Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo’s characters represent in this amoral and dark film. It’s not only a criticism towards criminal journalism, but a sharp critique on our society’s fascination with graphic and bloody images. Robert Elswit captures this dark mood through his camera lense to give us a different and stylish view of Los Angeles than what we are used to seeing on film. 

Nightcrawler reminded me a lot of Scorsese’s work in Taxi Driver. Jake Gyllenhaal’s Louis Bloom seems to be in some distant way related to De Niro’s Travis Bickle. Both these characters are dark and psychotic, while at the same time having some sort of charm that attracts us to them. Bloom is a determined and ambitious young man who becomes fascinated with the possibilities in the journalistic world. He likes to drive around at night and is drawn to violence. Unlike Travis Bickle, he has no sympathy for anyone and simply wants to make a career out of his freelancing camera work. The more violence he can capture in his camera, the better opportunities he will have to succeed. There are no moral boundaries when it comes to his work and the transformation he goes through in the film is subtilely played by Gyllenhaal. Jake Gyllenhaal is at his best when he plays these sort of dark characters that move around at night (Prisoners, Zodiac, and Donnie Darko come to mind). 

Rene Russo also delivers an impressive performance and plays a huge role in Bloom’s ascendence as a nightcrawler. The power shift between her character and Bloom is portrayed really well in this film. She seems to be in control of the relationship during their first encounters in the news station, but as Bloom rapidly ascends in the business he takes control of his own destiny. There is an interesting dynamic going on between these two characters and in the end they aren’t too different from each other putting their careers before others. How these two actors were ignored by the Academy for their performances is beyond me, but this film wouldn’t have worked as well as it did if it weren’t for those two powerhouse performances. Bill Paxton and Riz Ahmed also give interesting supporting performance. Ahmed (who was also great in Four Lions) plays Rick, a personal assistant of Bloom who is easily manipulated by him, and Paxton is a night journalist who Bloom perceives as his competition. The cast in this film deliver solid roles, but it’s Jake Gyllenhaal who carries the film with his impressive physical transformation. As big of a star as he is, he disappears and becomes this amoral man who will stop at nothing to get to the crime scene first. He gives a magnetic performance and as an audience you never know what to expect next from him. Kudos to Dan Gilroy on his feature debut for delivering such a wonderful thriller and having had the vision to cast Gyllenhaal for a role he was meant to play.

My Review: Enemy (8/10)

"Chaos is order yet undeciphered."

Denis Villeneuve's latest film, Enemy, opens with this very interesting quote about chaos and I can't think of a better one to explain  this intense and intriguing film. Enemy is a movie that requires your full attention and it is definitely not for the casual viewer. At first glance the story may seem chaotic, but Villeneuve is reminding us to pay close attention because there is an order to this surreal film if you decipher the symbolisms and meanings behind each scene. There have been many different interpretations as to what this film is trying to say, but I believe Villeneuve has made it possible for the viewers to put the clues together and understand the true meaning of his film. He has stated that it is a film about Jake's subconscious and the poster also points to that so I am not entering into spoiler territory when I make these claims. Enemy will be a divisive film because it doesn't follow a classical narrative structure and many people might find that misleading, but others will absolutely love trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together and solving this intriguing thriller. I think that the most important element for the audience is what they interpret the spiders to be since they play an important role in this film. However, even if you don't understand the chaos at first (which I didn't) Villeneuve sets such an eerie and creepy atmosphere with the cinematography and score that the film can still be enjoyed. The mystery completely sucked me in and I loved all the twists. I never saw the ending coming either and it left me completely perplexed, but after thinking about the story and reading some interpretations I was fascinated by the resolution. Enemy will either make you want to go back and rewatch it immediately to pick up on the clues, or it will turn you off completely and make you want to wipe out your memory. Enemy in my opinion is a great film and Villeneuve continues to show his versatility as a director.

The screenplay was adapted by Javier Gullon from Jose Saramago's novel (The Double) although he included some clever surrealist elements like the addition of spiders which aren't part of the novel. We are introduced to Adam (Jake Gyllenhaal) giving one of his lectures as a history professor. He gives a speech about totalitarian governments and how events repeat themselves over the course of time. His life is pretty dull as is his relationship with his girlfriend, Mary (Melanie Laurent), but things take an interesting turn when he watches a movie that a friend has recommended. After watching the film, he realizes that there was an actor in the background that looks exactly like him. He looks the actor up on the internet and decides to call his number. A woman answers the phone and believes it is her husband that is on the other line. Not only does Adam resemble this other actor, but they have the same voice as well. Adam tries to explain who he is, but the woman named Helen (Sarah Gadon) seems to be deeply disturbed. Her husband, Anthony (Jake Gyllenhaal) arrives and finds Helen troubled so he asks what's going on. After she explains to him the situation Anthony decides to meet with Adam in a hotel room and that is where the psychological thriller picks up and the mystery thickens. 

I've been a huge fan of Villeneuve ever since I saw his Canadian film, Incendies. It still remains my favorite film of his, but he has shown an impressive range with his latest films. Prisoners sort of felt like a conventional thriller with a straightforward narrative although the cinematography and the performances made it stand out. Enemy on the other hand is very different and audiences expecting a similar thriller will be disappointed because it is more of a psychological surreal thriller resembling some of the films from David Lynch. Enemy succeeds in most part thanks to Jake Gyllenhaal's brilliant performance as he plays two distinct characters giving each one different depth. It also benefits from an ending that some have called the scariest they've seen on film. I wouldn't go that far, but I thought it was shocking and unique. Villeneuve has really messed with his audience, but he did it in a positive way because it makes you want to go back and watch what you missed (unless you hated it and thought it was silly which is also a possibility with films like this). The tone of the film completely captured me and I was engaged once I got past those disturbing opening minutes. The entire film has a lot to do with the lecture Adam gives and whether you liked this film or not it does have order once you decipher all the chaos. Enemy is a clever film that will stick with you and it is so unique that it's hard to compare it to other films.

My Review: Prisoners (8/10)

"Pray for the best, but prepare for the worst."

Prisoners is a dark thriller that will have you at the edge of your seat during almost the entirety of the film. It was a very intense experience. It is hard not to compare this film to Mystic River or Gone Baby Gone because those two movies set the landmark for modern thrillers dealing with abduction. Prisoners almost lives up to the standards that those two films set. Canadian director, Denis Villeneuve, follows up his Oscar nominated film, Incendies, with this intense thriller that manages to capture the audiences attention once again. Incendies was one of my favorite films of 2011, and despite Prisoners not living up to the perfection that film achieved, I still thought this film was highly entertaining and satisfying. There were a few minor plot points that didn't work for me, but that didn't take anything away from this great film. It is a more mainstream film, but it manages to follow a similar approach as Fincher reminding us of Se7en or Zodiac thanks to its dark and haunting atmosphere. I am a huge fan of this genre and really had a fun time trying to solve the mystery through the small clues that Villeneuve masterfully presented in the story. Prisoners was without a doubt one of the most gripping and intense experiences I had all year. Unfortunately it is a little too intense and at times I felt the film could have used some moments to release such tension. Anyways Prisoners is a highly recommended film and a must-see. 

Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) is a family man who is always prepared for the worst. He is a survivalist with a basement full of provisions and is teaching his older son, Ralph (Dylan Minnette), how to hunt. He's married to Grace (Maria Bello) and they have a daughter named Anna (Erin Gerasimovich). One afternoon, Keller's worst nightmare comes true while they are hanging out with their friendly neighbors the Birches. Franklin (Terrence Howard) and Nancy Birch (Viola Davis) have two kids about the same age as Ralph and Grace, Eliza (Zoe Borde) and Joy (Kyla Drew Simmons). While the two families are having a lovely time together, Joy and Anna decide to go back to Anna's house, but when the Dover's come back home they are horrified to discover that the kids never made it back. Ralph remembers that they were playing next to a strange RV that was parked up front which is now gone. Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) is appointed as the lead investigator in the case and the first thing he does is locate the RV. The driver is a disturbed young man named Alex Jones (Paul Dano) who has the IQ of a 10 year old and with no evidence to incriminate him Detective Loki has to let him free. His Aunt (Melissa Leo) comes to pick him up and explains how naive and innocent he is. As hours pass, Keller begins to get more desperate and convinced that Alex was involved he decides to take matters into his own hands. From here on the tension begins to escalate as they try to solve the mystery.

Prisoners succeeds as a neo-noir thriller building up a lot of tension with a very dark atmosphere which is perfectly captured by cinematographer Roger Deakins. It adds to the mysterious mood of the story which on its own is already pretty intense. The screenplay, written be Aaron Guzikowski (Contraband), is very well written with a very interesting premise and some great twists. My only complaint with this film has to do with the lack of a strong female character. With such a strong cast, I thought that Maria Bello or Viola Davis could have been given a stronger role, but the film focuses mostly on Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal. They both give very strong and convincing performances, and Gyllenhaal has surprised me over the last three years with very good films (Source Code, End of Watch, and now this one). I guess he has been choosing his roles very wisely lately because his next film also looks interesting (Enemy which is also directed by Denis Villeneuve). Paul Dano also gave a strong performance as his character's motivations were very hard to decipher. The strong cast and the interesting story make this a very entertaining film despite some minor flaws involving character motivations. It is one of the best recent thrillers coming out of Hollywood and I doubt you will be disappointed.

My Review: End of Watch (9/10)

¨If you run away I will chase you. If you fight me I will fight back. If you shoot at me I will shoot back. By law I am unable to walk away. Behind my badge is a heart like yours. I bleed, I think, I love, and yes I can be killed.¨

Before End of Watch filmgoers probably knew David Ayer for having written the beautiful screenplay for Training Day (memorable for Denzel Washington`s performance), but now he will be remembered for his direction in this excellent cop thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña. I was completely hooked with this film from the very beginning with the opening scene up to the very last shot. David Ayer had directed some other thrillers in the past (Harsh Times and Street Kings), but none as gripping as this one. End of Watch pays homage to police officers around the world. Many people have complained that this is cop propaganda, but I believe it really is a tribute to the honest and hard working officers in the police department. Many films, including Ayer`s Training Day, have depicted police officers as corrupt, but End of Watch pays a special tribute to those officers who have put their lives on the line. These cops deserved a film like this, and in my opinion it is one of the best police thrillers I`ve seen in a long time. The screenplay was also written by David Ayer, and the movie was filmed in a documentary style as we had the main characters filming ¨home footage¨ while on duty. This may displease some viewers due to the camera movements and such, but I thought it worked well here and gave it a more realistic vibe. David Ayer knows his material and really came up with a believable script. He was helped by the excellent performance from the entire cast as well.

Brian Taylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Mike Zavala (Michael Peña) are partners working for the LAPD in the dangerous streets ruled by gangs and drug cartels. They are also best friends and spend all day talking about their families and such in between chases and gun shootings while they patrol the streets. Mike is married to Gabby (Natalie Martinez) who is expecting their first child, while Brian has begun dating a very intelligent girl named Janet (Anna Kendrick) with whom he`s falling for. As the two men discuss their daily lives and play jokes on other officers they also get the job done. They are so good at what they do that a dangerous drug cartel marks them for death after they confiscated some of their money and firearms. Brian and Mike continue with their lives as usual while saving children from a burning house and fighting criminals in the street without feeling like heroes. Frank Grillo plays the Sarge, and America Ferrera and David Harbour two other officers in the department.   

The chemistry between Michael Peña and Jake Gyllenhaal in this film is what really makes this film stand out from the rest. We´ve seen many similar films dealing with these issues, but none feel as real as this movie did. Thanks to the performance from the cast and the well written screenplay the movie feels authentic. Peña and Gyllenhaal could even receive nominations for their performance. That is how good they are here. Anna Kendrick is such a talented actress, I don’t think she gets the recognition she deserves. She is great here in her supporting role and is always a delight to watch on screen. The performance from each of the members of the gang was also incredible, this is as real and authentic as they`ve ever been depicted. The film combines great action scenes with a lot of laughs and dramatic moments; it is a very emotional ride and director David Ayer does a great job at managing this. I will be on the lookout for his next film because I was really impressed with his work here. Definitely one of the top ten films of the year: It is authentic and bloody.

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My Review: Donnie Darko (5/10)

¨28 days... 6 hours... 42 minutes... 12 seconds. That... is when the world... will end.¨

Donnie Darko is Richard Kelly`s first feature film and considered by many to be by far his best work. This dark and mysterious movie has reached cult status among many film lovers thanks to its original and eerie premise. I on the other hand, just recently watched it and didn’t enjoy the movie all that much. This isn’t my first Kelly film, since I saw The Box a few years back and really hated that movie so I was hoping Donnie Darko would be a lot better. It was better thanks to the performance from Jake Gyllenhaal and the atmosphere set up by Kelly, but it still didn’t work for me and once again I was disappointed with the ending of the film. Richard Kelly also wrote the original screenplay for Donnie Darko and at times the movie seemed to be heading into very interesting territories, but it just never managed to stay that way and ended up drifting everywhere. Many things that happened didn’t make much sense for me, but that is the way science fiction films work, some love it while others hate it and consider the events taking place to be impossible. For a movie dealing with time travel and such I think Back to the Future is the one to be put on the pedestal. Too many elements in Donnie Darko are just pointless in my opinion, but those elements are perhaps why many people consider this film to be a masterpiece. Donnie Darko is a divisive movie which some will love and others hate. You will just have to watch it and make your own judgment.

In the beginning of the movie we are introduced to a young and troubled teen named Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) who wakes up in the middle of nowhere one morning and drives his bike home. Donnie lives with his parents Eddie (Holmes Osborne) and Rose (Mary McDonnell) and two sisters Elizabeth (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and Samantha (Daveigh Chase). His family is worried about his behavior and he is sort of the outcast in class as well. He has therapy sessions with Dr. Lillian Thurman (Katharine Ross) and confesses to have an imaginary friend named Frank who is dressed up as a demon faced bunny. Frank has told Donnie that the world will end in 28 days and he also makes him commit a series of vandal acts. Dr. Thurman is afraid that Donnie is suffering from severe psychotic disorder. One morning a jet engine falls from the sky right into Donnie`s room, but Donnie was saved because he had slept walk to a golf course that night following Frank`s instructions. Donnie believes that Frank is some sort of messenger from the future and begins to ask question to his teachers in school about time travel. He also begins to date a new classmate named Gretchen (Jena Malone) who has also gone through a very dark past. As the apocalyptic date approaches, Donnie tries to find a way to change things.

This dark science fiction drama has a lot of missing pieces that the audience is forced to put together by using their imagination (unless you watch the director`s cut which is a lot more explanatory). The film doesn’t seem to follow similar premises from other movies, it is original and sometimes it feels like nothing really is happening that is connected with other events. That is the feeling I got with Donnie Darko, that it was a very disconnected film and hard to encapsulate at times. It`s as if the movie doesn’t know what it really wants to be. The characters aren`t really interesting either, the only true character that is given depth in this film is Donnie Darko and his behavior is really bizarre at times. Gyllenhaal`s performance was great, but that is the only thing I enjoyed about this movie. Kelly has had a difficult time trying to follow up his work from this film since his next two films have failed and not reached the same cult status as this movie did. Donnie Darko could have been a masterpiece if Kelly would have found a way to piece everything together at the end, but it left me with a sour taste.

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My Review: Source Code (8/10)

¨What would you do if you knew you only had one minute to live?¨

Source Code is a great action thriller directed by David Bowie`s son, Duncan Jones, who is beginning to make a big name for himself in Hollywood. In 2009 Jones directed a small film starring Sam Rockwell called Moon, and it was among my top films of that year. It was a great science fiction thriller that reminded me a lot of Kubrick`s 2001 A Space Odyssey. Jones does very interesting work once again with Source Code; although this time he didn’t come up with the screenplay. This was a much bigger project and Jones probably had to deal with producers this time around. There are some great and inventive moments, but there are others (like in the ending) that remind us that this is another Hollywood popcorn movie. The movie works in most part thanks to a great performance from Jake Gyllenhaal. Source Code ranks among one of his better performances at least in an action film. Due to the premise the story could have become predictable, repetitive, and boring, but thankfully it doesn’t because of the twists (at times it goes entirely a different direction than what we expected) and because Gyllenhaal gives it the freshness it needs. Monaghan didn’t seem to be up to par with Jake, but it doesn’t matter because she was just a supporting character. Some credit has to be given to Ben Ripley, who although being relatively unknown in Hollywood came up with a fresh, innovative, and interesting script. The action thriller worked really well and I hope Hollywood keeps introducing some new and fresh ideas like they did with Source Code.

Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a soldier who from one moment to the next goes from being in a helicopter in Afghanistan to finding himself on a train in Chicago with the identity of another person. Stevens doesn’t understand what is going on as the girl sitting in front of him, Christina (Michelle Monaghan), is talking to him. Colter doesn’t recognize anyone in the train and when he sees himself in the mirror he realizes he is in someone else`s body. Suddenly in the mix of all this confusion a bomb goes off and everyone in the train explodes. Colter wakes up inside a pod without understanding what is going on. There is a lady on a screen talking to him and informing him of his situation. Her name is Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) and she tells him he is part of a program called the Source Code. A train has exploded in Chicago and they are sending him back in time to try to figure out who the bomber is before another explosion takes place. Colter is being sent into a sort of parallel universe in an attempt to discover who the bomber is, not to prevent it from occurring because it already has happened. The program seems to be able to create a worm hole that is plugged to a human consciousness. The data it receives comes from the dead people on the train. Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright) is working with Goodwin; he is the scientist behind this program and he explains to Colter what is going on. They obtain this data because the human mind retains the last eight minutes of their lives, therefore they are able to connect Colter into their consciousness and send him into this parallel universe in order to identify the bomber. He only has eight minutes to make the discovery and if he doesn’t the train explodes and he has to be sent each time.

Scott Bakula`s voice can be heard when Colter calls his father from the train. Bakula is known for the TV series, Quantum Leap, which has a premise similar to the one in this movie. Jones probably added his cameo in order to credit the series for the similarity. This action thriller begins with a bang. We are put right in the middle of the action and there is no need for us to be told what is going on. Jones leaves us out from the introduction and allows us to be just as confused as Gyllenhaal`s character is. We are just as lost as he is and we begin to make discoveries along the way at the same time he does. This is what makes Source Code really work: it hooks our attention from the beginning and makes us pay close attention to the action. Jones respects his viewers and doesn’t dumb down the plot, he makes us think and get immersed in the plot. Source Code is really short (93 minutes long) and it moves at a very fast pace. If Jones would have slowed down and tried to explain what was going on then the movie wouldn’t have the impact it did, but by letting us figure out what was happening as the plot unraveled we became more and more engrossed by the action. Source Code is one of those movies that grab us by surprise, one that we didn’t expect much from, but end up leaving with a smile on our face because it comes as a sort of fresh air after a hot day. Hollywood doesn’t make much of these movies anymore, but when they do come out its exciting to see something different. Too bad they ended up giving Source Code a typical Hollywood ending, but beside that I have no complaints. This was a great action thriller.

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