Source Code

Column: The Word on Films | Date Published: Tuesday, 24 May 11 | Author: Melissa Wellham | 1 year, 12 months ago

The second feature film from Duncan Jones (David Bowie’s son, though his greater claim to fame may be his direction of 2009’s Moon), Source Code is an action-thriller which follows Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) – a soldier who wakes up inside the body of another man, and discovers that his assignment is to stop a terrorist attack.

It’s revealed that Colter Stevens is, in fact, inside an experimental Government program called the “Source Code,” which allows a participant to cross over into another man’s body for the last eight minutes of is life. Our protagonist is required to re-live the last eight minutes again and again (and again), to discover the bomber on his train. Along the way Colter deals with his daddy issues and falls in love (with Michelle Monaghan). It’s a very action-packed eight minutes.

Source Code is not the film I expected from Jones for his second foray into filmmaking, but that doesn’t make it a bad film. Despite being more action and less art house than Moon, Source Code still works – if you’re willing to suspend any and all disbelief, that is. The premise is poorly revealed, the ‘science’ in this science fiction is basically just fantasy, and there are so many plot holes one wonders how the film doesn’t disintegrate entirely.

But Gyllenhaal is charming, the story is engaging, and the romantic sub-plot adds a nice human touch. Although not smart, Source Code has heart.

	Water for Elephants: Water for Elephants is an old-fashioned love story. Based on the novel of the same name, veterinary school student Jacob (Twilight’s brooding vampire Robert Pattinson, here a brooding human) takes to the road after the death of his parents. He ends up traveling with a circus, and becoming an elephant trainer. Complications arise when he falls in love with Marlena (Reese Witherspoon) the beautiful but damaged wife of August (Christoph Waltz), the cruel and complicated owner of the circus. This is Pattinson’s first real opportunity to prove himself outside of the Twilight franchise and associated angsty teen films – which is unfortunate, because he is still not given a particularly complex role. What makes Water for Elephants worth watching are the beautiful costumes and lavish set design. Being set at the circus means there’s obviously a lot of potential for imaginative and indulgent art direction; and being set in a depression era circus adds an attractive atmosphere of debauchery and decay. It’s a shame that with so much visual stimulation, what is boring to watch on screen is the love triangle. Rarely has there been less chemistry between two characters than between Witherspoon and Pattinson. And when the entire story hangs on their undeniable passion, that’s a problem. It’s not that the actors aren’t trying; it’s just that you can’t force chemistry. You know what they say: you can lead an elephant to water, but…

	Insidious: Insidious is both creepy and utterly ridiculous. I won’t lie – I hid under the sleeve of my coat for the first half. However, I also exclaimed “What the hell?” and laughed out loud during much of the second half. Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) are devastated when their son, Dalton, falls into a medically mysterious coma. Imagine how they feel when they’re informed that the strange occurrences that have also started happening aren’t a result of their house being haunted, but of their son being haunted (or almost haunted, or the object of attempted hauntings, or whatever). The tone starts off wonderfully – the opening sequence feels like horror films of yore, and the music is great. At this point, everything is still subtle and unexplained (albeit slightly Paranormal Activity 2ish). Then, director James Wan decides to cast aside any attempts at genuine suspense and creepiness in favour of obvious scares, ridiculous exposition and horror clichés. Overall, there are some good scares, but also too many eye-roll moments to make it a good horror film. There are some great funny moments, but they feel tonally strange. Insidious must have done something right though – later that night I thought my fan was a wax figure with a shotgun, and I kept thinking I heard eerie whistling or women crying. So it gets an extra star for that.