'Source Code' an electrifying puzzle

While nobody wants to imagine "Groundhog Day" without Bill Murray, it's the best way to describe "Source Code," an enthralling piece of science-fiction that finds its hero repeating the same sequence of time over and over again.

Jake Gyllenhaal stars as a Colter Stevens, a soldier who awakens on a Chicago commuter train with zero knowledge of how he got there. The woman sitting across from him (Michelle Monaghan) seems to know him, except that his face isn't really that of the handsome Gyllenhaal we all know and love. It's that of some teacher with a less-distinctive chin.

After a befuddling eight minutes, the train suddenly goes boom, and Stevens awakens in a dark pod. A military suit (Vera Farmiga) appears on a monitor and tells him about the "source code," a system that allows someone to repeatedly enter the consciousness of a dead person for the final eight minutes of their life.

Using this "time-traveling avatar," Stevens must find the bomber and prevent an even bigger explosion that threatens the entire city. So he keeps going back to the same eight minutes, hoping to find clues that will I.D. the bomber.

Director Duncan Jones, who made the fantastic sci-fi indie, "Moon," is a master at executing insane plot twists in a way that doesn't confuse or frustrate his audience. He never pauses for unnecessary explanation, leaving the audience to experience the wackiness as Stevens experiences it.

The concept of the source code is made purposefully hazy in an effort to avoid the holes in logic that time travel storylines always create, and Jones wisely utilizes character-actor extraordinaire Jeffrey Wright as the eccentric scientist behind the technology. His explanations, although complete gibberish, are convincing enough to power the movie to its purposefully ambiguous final act.

After a string of creative misfires ("Prince of Persia," "Love and Other Drugs,") Gyllenhaal finally has a role that compliments his range. The part requires a lot of him, and he handles the heavy emotion and lighter moments with a leading man charisma that other filmmakers have so far failed to harness. There's a Clooney-esque confidence here that few young actors have shown recently.

Then again, the material for Hollywood thrillers usually isn't half as good as "Source Code," even when the movie stumbles occasionally on its own logic. The ending, while satisfying, doesn't hold up to close scrutiny, but at least there's a lingering emotional wallop created between Gyllenhaal and Monaghan.

Jones, however, is the real breakout - a director with the talent to have a career making challenging, character focused films across all genres. It'd be nice to jump ahead in time for just a glimpse of his next move.

Grade: B+

Ticket Stubs is sponsored by the Hayden Cinema Six Theater. Showtimes are available at www.HaydenCinema6.com. Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com.