Repetitive, far-fetched ‘Source Code’ still a ride worth taking

It's "Deja Vu" all over again. And again. And again.

Not to mention heaping helpings of "Groundhog Day" and "Quantum Leap," to cite a few of "Source Code's" high-concept predecessors.

Even though "Source Code" isn't the most startlingly original thriller to come down the track lately, that doesn't mean it's not worth the ride -- assuming you're willing to suspend your disbelief long enough to go along for the ride.

Because, in the beginning, you'll be just as confused as "Source Code's" understandably overwhelmed protagonist, Capt. Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal).

As far as he knows, he's a helicopter pilot in Afghanistan.

Until he wakes up aboard a Chicago-bound commuter train, sitting across from Christina (the winsome Michelle Monaghan), a fellow passenger who seems to know him -- and keeps calling him Sean.

Sure enough, when Colter bolts into a bathroom aboard the train, he discovers he's in someone else's body.

But there's more. An explosion rips through the train, killing everyone aboard -- and blasting Colter back to a dark, mysterious cell, where a face and a voice on a computer monitor bring Colter back to reality.

She's Air Force Col. Carol Goodwin (Vera Farmiga, finding surprising depth in a severely underwritten role), who explains to Colter exactly what's happening -- as much as anyone can.

Turns out he's part of Source Code, an experimental military program (based, according to the movie, at Nellis Air Force Base) that can zap him back in time to relive the last eight minutes of commuter Sean's life -- so he can find the terrorist in time to stop him from detonating a dirty bomb in the heart of Chicago.

If only Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright, on target as always), the slightly monomaniacal scientist in charge of Source Code, had time to go into detail about how the process works. But "it would take weeks to explain," he maintains.

Besides, Colter knows what he's got to do -- return to the train, reliving the same eight minutes over and over until he finds the bomb, and the bomber, in time to save all those innocent lives.

Ben Ripley's screenplay, studded with sassy wisecracks, sets up all sorts of convoluted sci-fi puzzles that director Duncan Jones ("Moon") is smart enough to sidestep.

Instead, Jones makes the most of the script's ticking-clock structure, heightening the tension and stepping up the pace so audiences won't have so much time to ponder the imponderable, impenetrable and eventually preposterous implications of Ripley's scenario.

Jones also finds a way to bring visual variety to "Source Code's" three primary sets: the train, the Source Code control room and the dimly lit compartment where Colter spends his time away from the train. Initially, the movie reflects Colter's confusion and claustrophobia as he awakens aboard the train; as he repeatedly returns, expanding his investigation, "Source Code's" field of vision widens too, reflecting Colter's increasing understanding of the environment and his role within it.

Too bad Jones never figures out how to get around the inevitable repetition a movie like "Source Code" practically guarantees; for all the minor adjustments and variations that develop, it's still the same character doing pretty much the same thing time after time after time.

Fortunately, that character proves compelling enough to engage, and retain, our interest, as Gyllenhaal musters enough stalwart energy and soulful concern to carry "Source Code" through, and over, its most implausible moments.

It's not the most realistic ride you'll ever take, but at least it's an engaging and entertaining one, regardless of the sometimes far-fetched territory it covers.

Contact movie critic Carol Cling at ccling@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272.