You might have two reactions if you were to take a bathroom break while seeing this movie. Some people would become lost because the source code is an intricate and detailed science fiction idea about time travel in the sense that people who have been briefly dead can be given a re-assignment to live a moment all over again with the help of the code. On the other hand, Jake Gyllenhaal’s character winds up on the same train, reliving the same moment, seven different times in the course of the film so a person returning from the restroom might wonder why the same scene with different twists are playing again.
The plot to halt a terrorist’s attack on the train is the main story focus and sure enough the train explodes and is engulfed by flames thanks to a bomb which Colter Stevens (Gyllenhaal), a U.S. helicopter pilot operating in Afghanistan, is attempting to stop. He learns his assignment is to return repeatedly to the past to find a bomber and his explosives, with just eight minutes each time to accomplish the task. He embodies another character and this is where some of the scenes might become a bit confusing. Colter also falls in love with Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan) which complicates things when he learns he must ultimately die if and when he is successful in completing his mission by learning who the terrorist is. He insists on saving the train and the people on board as well as a condition to keep trying for success.
The movie has some good scenes and makes a point about appreciating all of life’s moments but it contains very strong language and this, along with the scene of a corpse’s half body, is what prevents us from awarding our Dove Seal to the movie as a family-friendly film.
