A soldier wakes up in someone else’s body and discovers he’s part of an experimental government program to find the bomber of a commuter train. A mission he has only 8 minutes to complete.
I dug Source Code. I like movies that don’t take place over days and weeks but rather a few minutes or hours, compressed into movie format. Throw in a bit of outer-(other)-body romance, Chicago pride, and some sci-fi gimmickery along with the trope of re-living the same moment over and over (seeing those few minutes from multiple perspectives or potential outcomes) – along with the ‘we’re still here’ punchline – and you have yourself a winner.
In this first clip, Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) apparently wakes up discombobulated and unaware of his location, and has this exchange with Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) prior to establishing a “visual signal” with her person:
In this next 1-minute build-up clip, this really gets to the heart of a few “what is normal?” questions. Colter Stevens has re-entered the matrix several times and is becoming adjusted to his role in this scenario. His Army training kicks in, and he proceeds to question those around him – first via the train conductor, and then via the girl, whose delivery is spot-on:
