Source Code 2011

Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: Its limited-time-travel premise offers some knotty pleasures throughout... Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: In "Source Code," thinking is doing, which makes it a nice respite from standard action fare with its guys, grunts and guns (though there's some of that here too). Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: Part of the fun of Duncan Jones's frequently clever sci-fi thriller is being as in-the-dark as the film's protagonist. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: It's a crackerjack ride, shot and edited for maximum discombobulation. Read more

Una LaMarche, New York Observer: Ultimately, Source Code makes good on its Hitchcockian opening sequence -- it may pale in comparison to the master, but it's a fun, puzzle-filled ride, with excellent pacing and a mounting uneasiness that recalls the best episodes of The Twilight Zone. Read more

John Anderson, Wall Street Journal: Putting across a premise as fantastical as this film's requires top-flight acting, as well as a kind of poker face, and that's precisely what the movie delivers. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: "Source Code" is perfectly enjoyable as a swiftly moving thriller, and Gyllenhaal is effective as a mystified fellow who eventually engages himself - and us - in putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Read more

Keith Phipps, AV Club: It's Jones' restrained direction that keeps Source Code moving, and confirms him as the rare filmmaker able, or maybe just choosing, to understand that even movies with explosions don't have to be dumb to entertain. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: The star here is Jones, who manages to paper over most of the holes in Ben Ripley's script with pure adrenaline and keep us guessing - and enthralled - all the while. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: I'm still not sure what "source code'' means here. I suspect the actors, the director, and the screenwriter haven't a clue either. But the thing keeps you watching. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: None of this makes any sense if you think about it, but the idea is so much fun that thinking about it may be your last impulse. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: "Source Code" is a contraption, no doubt. But it works. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Years -- months? -- hence I expect there will be an avalanche of PhD theses focusing on these mumbo-jumbo mind-meld melodramas. In the meantime you can pick up your BA at the multiplex today. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Duncan Jones' swiftly paced and engaging sci-fi thriller is a Groundhog Day for a post- 9/11 world. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: A smart sci-fi thriller that maybe asks a bit more of its audience than the average movie. But the payoff is solid, and really -- how long is eight minutes? Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Source Code bats around interesting philosophical ideas about the elasticity of time, and the director finds moments of humor in unlikely corners of that train of fools. Read more

Eric D. Snider, Film.com: Less introspective and ambitious than Jones' first film, but it's also more mainstream and accessible, in all the best ways. Read more

William Goss, Film.com: A casually brainy and surprisingly thoughtful blockbuster... that is ultimately as much about saving the day as seizing it. Read more

Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter: Intriguing if unbelievable sci-fi piece that quickens the pulse even if you don't completely buy into the set-up. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: With a twisty, mind-bending plot that frequently changes direction and occasionally overreaches, "Source Code" wouldn't work at all without a cast with the determination and ability to really sell its story. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: The script by Ben Ripley doesn't come up with enough obstacles to throw in the hero's path, and his budding romance with the doomed Christina feels more like a studio mandate than an organic development. Read more

Frank Lovece, Newsday: A thoroughly original, imaginative and fast-flying tale in which the Groundhog Day aspects are secondary to a story of service, honor and dedication. Read more

David Denby, New Yorker: The movie is a formally disciplined piece of work, a triumph of movie syntax, made with a sense of rhythm and pace, and Gyllenhaal, who is always good at conveying anxiety, gives Stevens's desperation a comic edge. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: The problem with "Source Code" is the idea of "Source Code." Read more

Scott Tobias, NPR: This time, Jones has more money and greater studio expectations behind him, so what begins as another existential head trip that puts ideas before spectacle eventually morphs into something trite and compromised -- hard sci-fi gone soft. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: The first film in a while to have a decent heart while quickening your pulse. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: A fun ride of a sci-fi thriller with terrific romantic chemistry between Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan. Read more

David Hiltbrand, Philadelphia Inquirer: Source Code certainly gives the audience a lot to chew on. But very little of it is digestible. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Source Code is what might happen if one cross-bred Groundhog Day with 24 and The Matrix. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: Confounding, exhilarating, challenging--and the best movie I've seen so far in 2011. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Here's a movie where you forgive the preposterous because it takes you to the perplexing. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Think of Groundhog Day morphing from comedy to thriller and you'll get an idea of the mischief afoot in Source Code. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: There's just enough pop physics, and more than enough real human psychology, to lend this intriguing popcorn movie some depth. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: A thriller that takes a science fiction premise and uses it, not for the sake of splashy effects, but as a doorway into the human soul. Read more

John Swansburg, Slate: It's this emotional arc underlying the ticking-time-bomb plot that keeps the movie from succumbing to its flaws. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: "Source Code" is a bullet train of a thriller. Read more

Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Source Code" isn't as smart or adventurous as it might have been. But as popcorn entertainment, it's right on schedule. Read more

Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail: Director Jones and screenwriter Ben Ripley also deserve credit for expertly shuffling the plot. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Source Code is a sci-fi thriller that simply shouldn't work as well as it does. Read more

Mary F. Pols, TIME Magazine: It is a tremendous downer when the second half of the movie shirks logic, defies its own established principles and raises more questions than it answers. Read more

Nigel Floyd, Time Out: Ripley's intricate script and Jones's brisk direction invite us to climb aboard and enjoy the ride. But if you want to dig deeper, there is some serious stuff about a guy lost in fragments of time, groping towards a sense of his own identity. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: It'll make your brain hurt (in a good way) trying to determine whether it all makes sense -- until it quite obviously and frustratingly doesn't make sense anymore. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Holes in logic get swept aside by the brisk pace and stimulating tale. Read more

Andrew Barker, Variety: Solid execution and some provocative ideas can't save Source Code from a fatal hubris, as it thinks itself far more clever than it actually is and assumes it's earned emotions at which it's only hinted. Read more

Aaron Hillis, Village Voice: A propulsive ride worth your popcorn dollar, not for its preposterous genre tinkering but for its refreshingly humanist take on a high-concept gimmick. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: For the most part, "Source Code" delivers on its promises with precision and care - all that's missing is Punxsutawney Phil and a toast to world peace. Read more