by Leah Schroeder ’13

If at first you don’t succeed, die, die again.

In Duncan Jones’s “Source Code,” Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) re-lives and manipulates the last eight minutes of the life of another man, Sean Fentress, through an experimental program called source code. His goal is to identify the bomber of a Chicago commuter train and determine how to stop the next bombing. While living Sean’s life, Stevens meets and falls in love with Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan).

With such a limited time frame to overcome distractions and find clues, Stevens must repeat those same eight minutes countless times, before he finally completes his mission. Even so, each repetition is slightly different, allowing the audience to share in Steven’s frustration of having to repeat the task over and over again.

Gyllenhaal often receives more notice for his good looks and off-screen romances than for his many diverse movie roles, which include his Academy-Award-winning performance in “Brokeback Mountain” and his recent roles in “Love and Other Drugs” and “Prince of Persia.” Even so, the Gyllenhaal-obsessed girls are right to be smitten. Yes, because he is charming, but also because he knows how to portray a compelling character. As Stevens, his frustration, his sense of humor, his dedication, his fearlessness and his unwillingness to accept anything less than the full truth come together for one memorable performance.

While “Source Code” could appear to be riding the intellectual thriller bandwagon of last summer’s “Inception” and the recently released “The Adjustment Bureau,” this movie ultimately sets itself apart by successfully employing other elements from a range of movie genres. The movie is centered on the science fiction concept of a time loop. Stevens’s pursuit of the bombing suspect involves a variety of action scenes including one instance of Stevens jumping off of a moving train. At the same time, Stevens’s blind search sets him up for many comedic situations, most memorably one instance in which he follows a suspect into the men’s bathroom and displays a little too much interest in that man’s actions. In those same eight minute intervals, a romance sparks between Christina and Stevens, made dramatic by the fact that Christina has a friendship with the “real” Sean. Stevens also has to balance his mission with his own problems in his original identity in order to ultimately recognize the importance of making every moment count.

Through its superb cast and characters, unexpected plot twists and wide-ranging intrigue, this movie entertains, but also provides a heaping dose of perspective on life and how it should be lived.