When I saw the trailer for Source Code, I expected it to be typical Hollywood trash that would throw in more computer mumbo jumbo to barely hold a plot together. I was wrong. Duncan Jones – of Moon fame – spins a yarn that will keep you engrossed and make you think of existentialism once you exit the theatre. Much like Moon, Source Code is essentially about human choices and philosophy rather than a straight-out beep-boop sci-fi story. Calling Duncan Jones’ films merely ‘sci-fi’ films is a big injustice to them.
Jones seems to be using Chesney Hawkes’ The One and Only as a leitmotif in his works. I pointed out how in Moon he used that song to amplify the isolation of Sam Bell’s character. In Source Code, he uses the song too – this time to subliminally message that Christina (Michelle Monaghan’s character) could be the one true love for Cpt Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhal’s character) as that’s her phone ringtone. The repetitive use of flashes of Chicago’s Cloud Gate – and the eventual ending of the movie – make sense in this context!