Cracking the “Source Code” Trailer, Starring Jake Gyllenhaal

What if, instead of mastering the art of not being a jerk, Bill Murray's "Groundhog Day" character had to prevent a terrorist attack? Throw in a dash of "Avatar," swap out Andie McDowell for Michelle Monaghan, and that's essentially the premise of "Source Code."

The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Captain Colter Stevens, a man who is transported via a new military program called "Source Code," into the body of a Chicago commuter during the last eight minutes of his life, one doomed to end with a massive explosion on board his train, and in turn trigger an even deadlier even in the city's downtown.

Colter, of course, fails repeatedly--a man can only do so much in eight minutes--but gathers more clues along the way, and even finds time to fall for the cute woman sitting across from him, played by Monaghan. Throughout he is in constant communication with his superior officer, played by Vera Farmiga and the head of the "Source Code" project, played by Jeffrey Wright.

We are a bit curious as to why Colter can learn things along the way, but couldn't be told where he was the first time he was dropped into the dude's body. Don't you tell a brother you're about to transport him into another man's disaster?

Not since "Bubble Boy" (which we enjoyed a little too much) has Gyllenhaal really outperformed the material he's got to work with, but we're huge fans of Monaghan, Farmiga and Wright. What's got us intrigued about this film, though, is that it's the sophomore effort from director Duncan Jones, whose first film "Moon," rocked our worlds.

Where "Moon" is a small intimate film about a guy losing his marbles while stationed at a distant mining operation, "Source Code" looks very much like a traditional big-budget action flick--which isn't an inherently bad thing, it's just not what we were expecting.

"Source Code" arrives April 15.

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