Saturday, November 20, 2010

Yes, No, Maybe So: "Source Code"

With Love and Other Drugs about to open we feel absolutely bombarded with Gyllenhaaliciousness. Which is fine by us... Especially when it comes with Hathawayish sparkle.


But such is the nature of healthy physiques careers that before you even have a chance to see Movie A, you're already asked to think about Movie B and sometimes even movie C (given that roughly 89.4% of film writing on the web seems to be devoted to pre-production rather than actual cinema.

In 2011, Jake is ditching Anne for Michelle Monaghan (on a train) and Vera Farmiga (in a control booth) inside Duncan Jones (Moon) sci-fi thriller Source Code. Let's give it the yes, no, maybe so treatment.



Yes. Well, Jones has our attention post Moon (2009) and the cast is full of fine actors.

No. "I want to save her." "You can't it doesn't work that way." "Look for suspicious passengers"... a lot of what we see her suggests a very high concept -- Groundhog Day meets Every Action Movie With a Countdown Clock -- without much by way of its own identity. While it's true that 2:24 minutes of screen time isn't much, they don't show us anything here that seems like it unquestionably will rise above action, sudden romance, or time travel "make the most of the time you have!" clichés.

Maybe So.  It seems a touch perverse to shove highly watchable actors like Jeffrey "Belize" Wright and "Crazy-Eyes" Farmiga into work clothes and onto television monitors to become human exposition machines. Are they wasted here? This is always a danger with action movies that use awards-calibre actors for color. I get that filmmakers bank on strong performers to elevate the overall quality of a movie, trusting them to grant humanity and intrigue where none may exist in the script, but it still can feel like a waste. On the other hand, it can work magic (see: the Bourne franchise) so we can always hope.

And what's with the canted angles of all the monitors within the Source Code? They have the technology to build a time travel machine that continually transports you into another human being's body right before they die but they didn't have the budget for a level?



What's your verdict: yes, no or maybe so?

Jeffrey Wright Jake Gyllenhaal

13 comments:

pomme said...

Yes for the director and i'm intriguing
No for "groundhog day meets big action movie"

Peggy Sue said...

I love Jake as much as everyone else but I must say NO.
Sorry but the dialogue and the acting seems so phony...

Peggy Sue said...

I love Jake as much as everyone else but I must say NO.
Sorry but the dialogue and the acting seems so phony...

Yoummy said...

the only reason I don't have Portman "locked" is that I have a rule that you can't be locked until you're actually eligible and until you open in theaters, you ain't eligible


but you have THE KING'S SPEECH in green and it hasn't been released yet!!!!!

NATHANIEL R said...

yoummy -- that was just because it's opening for thanksgiving and i won't get a chance to update the picture chart again next week.

Robert said...

I liked Moon a lot, but felt like its strength lied in its understated nature.

I'm sure I'll give this a shot because of Jones, but this trailer has tempered my anticipation, not heightened it.

Dom said...

I'm gonna agree with you, and some of the other posters here - I like Jones, and Gyllenhaal and the rest of the cast, but this trailer doesn't have me sold. I'm actually kinda intrigued by the concept, but I'm just not sure that it needs the romantic subplot shoved in there, and some of the dialogue wasn't great.

I'm still interested though, and hope we get the chance to see a bit more soon.

Olli Sulopuisto said...

Maybe – the script is actually a pretty nice thriller. No – they frontloaded about 2/3 of the movie into the trailer, which'll make the moviegoing experience boring for the first 60 minutes or so. Maybe – the actors! No – did you hear the way they blurted out concentrated exposition?

I'm on the fence.

Filme Online Gratis said...

Nice movie . I`ll watch it ,that`s for sure.

MRRIPLEY said...

a usa friend of mine saw love and other drugs and says you see a LOt of jakes hairy ass.

Alex F said...

Well, unlike everyone else, I absolutely do not love Jake, but even if he were not in it, this movie would be a no. I refuse to sit through Deja Vu again.

Also, in the EW pics, why are his muscles so shaded? The make-up artist went a little nuts, didn't he/she?

Deborah said...

I'm on with Yes. I watched the trailer for Moon and it had almost nothing to do with the actual movie. I think Jones deserves the benefit of the doubt; his conceptual stuff isn't something trailers can sell, so we get a different trailer. That director. That cast.

Ryan said...

jake is the sexiest male actor working today. and SC does look interesting