Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/30781
As Always, You Have Eight Minutes Source Code (Rated PG-13) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS Source Code (93 minutes) is the best Philip K. Dick novel that Philip K. Dick never wrote. It bears a resemblance to several other “hard” science-fiction films, even if the science is a little fuzzy. Get out your blender, toss in Total Recall, Groundhog Day, The Matrix, then sprinkle with a topping of misdirection. Director Duncan Jones where have you been all my life? Hey! He directed Moon! That was also good. The film starts off with disorientation. Tricksy camera angles distort a suspiciously clean city … supposedly Chicago, but very, very, shiny and new. All kinds of red herrings are set before the audience, and some are even relevant. Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) finds himself in the middle of a, ahem, quan- tum leap. It is unclear if he is perhaps a little nuts or possibly experiencing a psychotic break during the eight minutes immedi- ately preceding him getting hit in the face by a huge explosion. Then it turns out that he was not actually hit in the face by a huge explosion … it was teacher Sean Fentress, whose body he is borrowing, who was actually melted by the incoming fireball. He figures this out only after a positively exhausting interview/ sort-of-debriefing with Capt. Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga, who reminds me more of a Cate Blanchett/Tilda Swinton hybrid in every film she does). He irritat- ingly refuses to put the lives of other people ahead of his own confusion, repeatedly demanding answers that he is clearly not going to get. Finally, Capt. Goodwin gets it through his thick skull that he is part of a spe- cial program combining quantum whoosit with whatchyamacallit parabolic science and the movie Memento. But enough physics! Time to return to the Source Code, where Capt. Colter has eight minutes to get as much information as possible about a train bombing so the army guys (and Capt. Goodwin) can prevent an even bigger bombing. Not that he can change anything, so don’t even worry about that. Even if you subscribe to the many worlds theory, Dr. Rutledge points out that Colter would not be changing reality prime (that’s kind of a Sliders reference, but mostly I made it up), he would just be creating a totally new reality. He is sent back? (in? through? to?) and manages to avoid sounding crazy pants this time. He has a slightly different con- versation with Christine (Michelle Monaghan) the woman sitting across from him than he did during the opening credits, and he becomes convinced that the things he does on the train actually create change in the “real” world. Thinking about it now makes my head hurt, but at the time it made total sense. He starts to wonder what is going on with his reality as the metal capsule he is strapped into seems to be deteriorating in between trips. Jerky Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright, or “Basquiat” to the hardcore art nerds) points out that there a larger issues at stake, and every second they spend pandering to Colter’s insecu- rity about the nature of reality is one less second they are trying to prevent the annihilation of Chicago. With each trip, he gathers marginally more intelligence, but also becomes more certain of two things. First, he is not being told the whole truth about his status. Second, he can save the otherwise doomed people on the train. He begins to gather intel about himself as well as about the pending explosion. Colter does eventually get answers, and so does the audience. Half the fun is speculating about where he actually is, and if any of his desper- ate attempts to communicate with reality prime are successful. Overall, a superb addition to the time loop genre deserving of a much larger audience than it is getting. HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 222 or editor@upandcomingweekly.com Authentic Italian Cuisine Brick Fired NY Pizza MU SumMeR ClasS Schedule: Summer Day Term I begins May 16 & ends June 10. Summer Online Courses begin May 16 & end August 5. Summer Day Term II begins June 13 & ends July 8. Summer Day Term III begins July 11 & ends August 5. Summer Evening Term IV begins May 16 & ends July 9. For more information on MU summer classes, call 910.630.7190 or visit www.methodist.edu. Cu"Y"Yuswv" A world away from ordinary Sky Lounge @ 217 Pierro’s We invite you to explore our extensive martini menu that will satisfy the traditional and contemporary taste. vite you to explore o One of the area’s largest wine collections with over 400 bottles in stock. Wide selection for the discriminating palate, available by the glass. Eng ge nga e. Enriich. Emp wer. mpow r Join the conversation at ourmuworld.com. WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM 678-8885 822-3590 MAY 4-10, 2011 UCW 21