Source Code (7/10)

A very interesting concept was created as the Source Code but it was too blurry on the details to be understood fully. And perhaps that's what the producers intended right from the start.

Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan were great in this.Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright didn't have too much to do, however. And Russell Peters could have done more too. But performance wise, everyone was good enough.

The whole thing was shot mostly in two locations, one in the office and one in one of the train's compartment. But each time Gyllenhaal's character was sent back in time to find the bomber, and each time he awakens in the compartment in front of Monaghan, it's always interesting to follow because the action, pacing and direction were all solid. And credit has to go to two of the main people who created this movie, namely the semi-newcomers Duncan Jones as director and Ben Ripley as the writer.

But this movie could have easily been an 8. Where they went wrong? The ending. And here comes the spoiler. Had the movie ended five minutes earlier, it would have been perfect without the Hollywood's generic happy ending. What's wrong with stopping the story at where Gyllenhaal died and they arrested Farmiga? At least that would have made more sense than giving us another alternate reality in the end where everything was fine.

What, having the audience come out with a sense of completeness from a happy ending trumps a thought-provoking and sad but real conclusion? Even if they want to do a Source Code 2, they shouldn't be using Gyllenhaal and Monaghan anymore.