Source Code (2011)

3/5

Source Code is a competent and clever thriller with its fair share of plot twists and plot holes. The movie follows a soldier named Colter Stevens (Gyllenhaal) in the "source code," a program designed to simulate the last 8 minutes of someone's memory before they died. He's sent back onto a train heading to Chicago just 8 minutes before it is blown up by a terrorist. Dr. Rutledge (Wright), who created the source code, wants him to identify the person responsible so they can prevent a second terrorist bombing. On the train, however, he meets (and falls in love with) another passenger (Monaghan).

By far the greatest aspect of this movie is its locale. They must have chosen the single most beautiful day Chicago has ever seen and filmed everything that day. This city looks so attractive it might as well be our tourism ad; this is probably the best Chicago has looked since Road to Perdition. As for the rest of the movie, it's more of a mixed bag. The characters are all relatively bland, despite Gyllenhaal, Farmiga, and Monaghan giving it their best shot, but two in particular stand out as exceptionally awful: the terrorist character and Dr. Rutledge. They are both so one-dimensional that they might as well have not existed at all. There is absolutely no satisfaction at capturing the terrorist because he is so utterly worthless. His motivation is that 1) the world is hell and 2) you need to destroy the old world to make way for the new one. That is the extent of his reasoning. Dr. Rutledge is not only shallow, he is also bizarre and uninteresting. Also, quiz question for those who have seen the movie: how exactly is Vera Farmiga communicating with Jake Gyllenhaal? It doesn't really make any sense, does it? Anyway, the meat of the movie is a relatively enjoyable action mystery thriller, but when you come back and think about the entirety of the movie for just a minute or two longer, you realize the pieces don't quite add up to a fulfilling whole.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0945513/

Moon (2009)

2/5

Moon is an average science fiction movie in the same vein as Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. The plot follows space miner Sam Bell (Rockwell) and his robotic assistant Gerty (Spacey) nearing the end of a 3-year stint on the moon. After recovering from an accident, his body begins to slowly weaken and degenerate; he experiences hallucinations, vomits up blood, and loses his teeth. And that's not even the weirdest part.

The plot is interesting, to say the least, which is why I wanted to see the movie. But it failed to live up to my expectations because of atrocious pacing. There was no build-up, climax, or denouement. The movie peaked about halfway in, and after that you just sat and watched events you don't care about transpire. Without any prospect of progression, the audience will find the movie boring and slow, which is what I found it. (I even caught myself nodding off a few times, but perhaps a food coma from a delicious chicken bake was partly to blame).

The acting by Sam Rockwell was riveting, as it had to be to support the one-man show. Kevin Spacey's performance was acceptable, but his role was uninteresting. The editing was annoying (especially during the fight scene) and the special effects were wholly unconvincing. The rest of the technical aspects of the movie were nothing to write home about, and indeed I choose not to write home about them. Moon was an interesting concept, with some excellent moments, but on the whole should be avoided by the general public.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1182345/