Source Code discussions, definite SPOILERS!

[Vanessa]

WARNING, SPOILERS ON THIS THREAD!

OK, we were talking about liking or not liking the ending of the movie on ISJ blog & since we really can't discuss anything about it there without spoilers, then I thought maybe we could get into a discussion here. I am curious whether you liked the ending or not, & why, plus if you didn't like it, how would you end it.


I personally understand why some people didn't love the ending or even hated it, due to it being an almost typical romantic ending, since everything worked out for him after all, although he lost his gorgeous face & ended up looking like somebody else. I just would have hated the ending if it had ended where he just dies & the people couldn't be saved on the train. I mean we already know he averted the rest of the attacks, so how would you end this? I would be afraid it would have left us feeling so hopeless & sad at the end. I know that this ending is not logical, but so what, a lot of movies defy logic, & you have to suspend disbelief to enjoy it. Plus, I personally love that we can live vicariously through movies & do exactly what we can't normally do in reality.

Thoughts, you guys? Come on, I really want to hear what everyone else thought about that ending.

[Prophecy Girl]

Like I'm sure everyone else who went in unspoiled, I assumed the move would end with that last freeze-frame shot of everyone on the train enjoying their last few moments of life. But I have to say, I was totally rolling my eyes at that point. I know I should have been loving that they all got their happy ending, but I was mainly just annoyed that it seemed that it was going to wrap up way too neatly. Having everyone laugh their way to their deaths seemed way too cloying considering the story up to that point.

So in that sense, I was very glad the movie kept going. In fact, I LOVED the idea of an alternate universe (these are the sorts of theories I actually enjoy reading about for fun and spend entirely too much time thinking about...alternate universes are, like, a personal fetish of mine), and I doubt I would have liked the movie nearly as much had that little twist not been thrown in.

THAT SAID, what I didn't love was that that piece of information was thrown in last minute and the focus was on Jake and Michelle walking into the sunset together. What the hell! They barely knew each other! And now Jake's a totally different guy? So what happened to that guy in the new universe? How can someone just vanish and be taken over by someone else?

In fact, the entire romantic subplot didn't make a lot of sense to me and, as gyllenhaalisgr8 first pointed out on the blog, was kind of superfluous. I also didn't think that enough attention was given to the motivations of Vera Farmiga's or Jeffrey's Wright's characters. I wasn't fully sold on the dynamic between the two, especially at the end when they were completely at odds with each other.

When Jake said the line about "having the decency to let [him] try" to save the people on the train, I seemed to me (in hindsight) that he had an idea how this was all going to end. But I feel like a lot more could have been done with that. I don't know. I need to see it again...

[Vanessa]

I totally love the alternate reality or other plane, whatever it may be. & time travel has always been extremely intriguing to me, so this gave me a great twist at the end, that I really loved.

However, I need to see it again & am curious if I still feel the same, knowing the ending now. I also thought about the real Sean Fentress, (WTF happened to him if Colter Stevens' consciousness took over his body?), & it just kept coming back to me that he died anyway. But, then again, since Captain Stevens was able to change the past, then logically, the real Sean wouldn't have died after all. This business of having your consciousness be put into a different body is another thing that I love the possibility of, although I don't know about the moral ethics of totally deleting another person's consciousness like he evidently did. Poor guy, he's just erased now? & Captain Stevens' consciousness just goes on to live happily ever after with Christina with her believing he's someone else??? Weird, but very different in my opinion so I did like it & according to Christina, she really liked the "new" Sean, but that still bothers me, like the real Sean was not a good enough person to go on living? Whatever, these kinds of questions could drive you crazy thinking about it. I will be seeing it again soon, so I am curious if I will come away from it feeling the same as the 1st time.

[callmemo]

That was one of the major plotholes that bothered me, what the hell happened to Sean that he was basically able to take over his body and life. I thought it was ended on a lame happy note. Personally, I wanted him to stop the Chicago bombing, but I didn't want him to suceed at saving those on the train. As lame as that ending was, I wanted it to end on that freeze frame. I didn't want to know he could exist on an alternate universe. Also, how would an Army helicopter pilot have any idea that the idea of alternate universes was even a reality. He obviously sent that email knowing he may very well suceed. He could figure it out, these scientists who (I'm assuming) have spent years on this, didn't even dare to imagine that this could be a probability. I, personally, didn't want the ending all neat, tidy and happy. Why did he get to have everything? It was a very Hollywood ending. I was expecting otherwise.

[KD]

I lot more things were explained more thoroughly in the original script than what was put into the screen play. Not that I'm faulting Duncan for editing things, because the information might have been overload given the fast-pace of the movie.

If you don't want to read the script, I can try to answer any questions to the best of my knowledge.

As for "alt. dimension S.F.", what happens is that the SC takes that Capt. back into the LAST eight minutes of at. dimension SF's life. Imagine one train chugging along one track. Suddenly, a fork develops within in the track.

The first fork is the first dimension, the one where the bomb has already occurred. At this point, SF is already dead. Now continue on that track, where SC is implemented and the Capt. in sent into the SC back into the PAST. But that PAS is now an Alt. Dimension.

Capt. is in an alt. dimension's SF PAST (dead) self; when the Capt. alters that universe's course, that's where the second fork develops. Ergo, he travels in that second alt. path. But because SF was already dead, in dimension 2 he is now alive VIA the captain.

IDK if that makes much sense...

Also, point 2, the romance between the Captain and Christine developed a lot more naturally in the original script. In the original, he and Christina didn't know each other, and she was actually very hostile to him. They develop a romance as she tries to help the Capt. find the bomber. Plus the original was more like a mystery than a thriller, although it was equally thrilling.

As for Vera's character. She's actually split into 2 in the script, and a lot more attention was given to the IRL dimension 1 happenings. Plus the ending is TOTALLY different in the script. Goodwin and another dude sort of hijack the operations and SHUTS IT COMPLETELY DOWN, rather than just pull Capt. from life support.

And that text NEVER happened, I don't think.

And there were a lot more questions on morals and ethics in the script than in the movie.

This being said, I still like the movie a lot.

[Vanessa]

Well you guys, sorry I have been MIA again, had some major issues with work, & then no internet on Tuesday all day & had to take my laptop to Starbucks to do my job. It was stressful, needless to say, especially when some idiotic woman was incessantly yapping loudly behind me telling her buddies all about her 500 *friends* on Facebook & Twitter. Seriously??? I tried blocking her out with my earbuds & listening to music, but her annoying voice still made it thru. Yuck. I can't tell you how hard it was not to turn around & tell her new friends to run away as fast as possible from that nutjob.

Anyway, back to SC. I got this the other day from MTV News about the ending & other parts of the movie that are major spoilers & since this thread is open for that, I thought you all might be interested in what they are saying. There is also a video to watch what Duncan, Jake, Michelle, & Vera say as well about things, plus Jake talks a bit about how the story could continue with a sequel, (click thru the link to see the video):

'Source Code': Unresolved Questions Answered

Jake Gyllenhaal and director Duncan Jones explain the sci-fi thriller's trickier moments

If you're anything like us, you walked out of "Source Code" with a whole lot of questions on your mind. What exactly is this computer code that sends Jake Gyllenhaal back into the past, in another man's body? What is the true implication of the film's twisty ending? With these questions still swirling in our heads, we hit up Gyllenhaal and director Duncan Jones for some answers. (Needless to say, major spoilers exist below).


Where Does The Source Code Take Place?
So the Source Code is a government computer program that allows Gyllenhaal's Captain Colter Stevens to jump into another man's body — a guy named Sean Fentress, who died in a terrorist train bombing — to experience the final eight minutes of his life in an attempt to prevent the terrorist from detonating a second bomb. But is what Gyllenhaal experiences just a computer simulation? Or is it actually real?

"The idea is that it's a simulator, but it actually opens up access to a parallel reality," Jones explained. "It literally creates new realities where things can happen in very different ways. Every time Colter is sent into the Source Code, they're creating a new reality where a new terrorist event occurs. So in a sense, every time Colter fails, they actually created a new terrorist event."

Why'd They Make The Terrorist a Lone Gunman?
As Gyllenhaal searches the train for the bomber, he finds himself engaging in more than a little bit of racial profiling. As it turns out, the true culprit is not some clichéd terrorist ripped from an old "24" script, but a lone gunman type who wants to bring about a new world order. The upside of such a storytelling choice is it avoids coloring the film with political baggage. The downside is the revelation of the terrorist is a bit of a letdown: He's just some random dude with a grudge.

According to Jones, though, the choice of the terrorist was another chance for "Source Code" to play with audience expectations. "That was the fun of the script," he said. "Colter Stevens makes these assumptions based on what you would assume is the obvious choice. There are lots of great red herrings — you think it's this person, you think it's that person. And to make it an obvious choice, in a way, would lack the punch of where we go."

What About the Paradox at the End?
As the plot wraps up, Colter, who we've learned is being held at the Source Code facility, ends up not only preventing the second bombing but also the original one on the train. He permanently ends up in Fentress' body, and no terrorist event ever comes to pass. That sets up a classic time-travel paradox of which Jones was well aware.

"The idea that Colter Stevens, by going into this parallel reality and stopping the bomb going off, means that he was never sent on a mission in the first place," the director said. "In that reality, he must still exist at the facility. For sci-fi geeks like myself, that was a paradox I needed to address."

Jones addressed the issue front and center, having Colter/Fentress send a message to the facility alerting one employee to the fact that, even though a terrorist event didn't take place, the Source Code does work. Additionally, Jones introduced the idea that Colter had been fated to end up in Fentress' body.

"He's seeing flashes of this surreal experience that he can't figure out," Jones explained. "Over the course of the film, he sees more and more until eventually, he's coming to recognize this potential future where he's able to get out of the train and experience a life beyond those eight minutes."

Will There Be a Sequel?
While the movie hardly qualifies as a blockbuster — it grossed $15 million over its opening weekend — Gyllenhaal sees a lot of room for a sequel.

"I think it'd be fascinating if Sean Fentress is somebody that [the government] wanted to find," he said. "Because it opens up a number of stories that are fascinating to me. To me, there really is no ending to this movie — and that's what's so cool about it."

[clarabel]

Just finished watching, and loved it. I mustn't be as much of an analytical thinker as you guys, because I just had 80 minutes of pure escapism, got absorbed in the plot, and just accepted it. I loved the thought that there was an alternate world. Definitely agree that the romance was superfluous but I am a sucker for a bit of romance, so didn't bother me to much. You've got me thinking about poor Sean now though...what did happen to him in the alternative world?

Been a long busy busy day so I think my brain will begin to hurt if I try analysing it too much So I'm off to sleep on it and will have to watch it again and pay attention to the details next time.

Thanks for the added info KD and Vanessa - interesting insights.

[Kokomo (aka NSA)]

So just call me the late bloomer of Gyllenhaalics, I just saw SC today. Dear God he looked good. But back to the point..I took more to the escapism side of things. And my head is too full to analyze all the crazy things the movie presented. I imagine I'll have to see it again to fully make sense of everything. And I was one of the biggest pessimists for this movie so the fact i liked it as much as I did is unexpected. I was quite disturbed when they revealed Colters body. For obvious reasons and also kind of disgusted that they would make a workhorse out of a mutilated, barely breathing human being. I liked that Goodwin essentially put an end to his suffering. Another part that bothered me and I'm still having a hard time with is when Jake comes back from the source code the second time I think and says "it's freezing in here" and proceeds to have long conversation with Goodwin. That's when I started to notice his skin color and how he didn't seem right....obviously know why that is now. That part just bothered me, like what was the symbolism??

Anyway seeing as how no one will prob read this since no ones on here anymore, I'll shut up now.