There’s only so much a soldier can give for his country. Or is there more? In Source Code, there is more. You can give after you’re done giving.
I loved this movie. It was scary and exciting and poignant. It had that little something I’m always looking for: Redemption. Self-sacrifice: a hero giving himself for the girl he loves. It was almost physically painful at times, nor did I know how it would end until it did. And, hello, hooray for happy endings, all tied-off neatly, everyone at peace.
Vera Farmiga as Captain Goodwin is fantastic in her restrained emotion, her (may I call it this) love for Captain Stevens, and her determination to do right against orders. Restrained emotion is Ms. Farmiga’s specialty, I think. Note The Departed in which she is amazing. (Everyone is amazing in The Departed.)
Story: There’s been a huge train wreck, with hundreds dead, just outside Chicago. The powers-that-be believe that whoever bombed the train is going to sic a dirty bomb on the Windy City. We are not told why the military thinks this, nor does it make any sense when we find out who “they” are.
It seems that when you die, your eight last minutes are still available (somehow) (somewhere). A certain type of soldier can be insinuated into your last eight minutes (but you’re already dead) and can be you for those few minutes. He can do this over and over again. With any luck, after a lot of tries re-living the eight minutes, he’ll find the bomber, disable him, and thereby keep him from blowing up Chicago this afternoon.
Why the bomber blows up the train is not told, because although I’m not a terrorist, it seems like it would be better not to telegraph your intentions if you wanted to get the bomb off cleanly. I’m just saying, if a lady in a recliner with a keyboard on her lap can figure that out, why can’t a real bomber? Tim McVeigh didn’t blow up the McDonald’s on his way to Oklahoma City. Scott Peterson didn’t off the lady next door to prep himself. It’s just a question.
Well, in this movie, the train has to be blown up or we wouldn’t have any eight minutes to insert ourselves so we could identify the bad guy, thereby stopping Act II in the afternoon.
(Nor are we told why the “certain type” of soldier is required for this mission, but I didn’t even question that until I got home.)
This all sounds crazy, but in the moment, I was fully engaged. Edge of my seat. This from a person who yawned through Battle: LA. That’s because there is a lot of relationship here. A lot of internal story. Lots of grief, regret, if only-ing. And a tiny bit of hope. Very sweet ending. Think Captain Pike, 1966.
Children of 13 or so will get this. There is a disturbing moment where we see a terribly wounded warrior, but the moment is so poignant and shows us so clearly what is going on, that it could not be removed.
See this.