Source Code
Summit Entertainment | Release Date: April 1, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 41 Critic Reviews
Positive:
34
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMar 30, 2011
What's really cool about the film - in addition to Jake Gyllenhaal's performance as Stevens - is how Jones makes sure that we don't know any more than Stevens does, right up till the end. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovMar 31, 2011
It's not nearly as complex and eerily existential as the director's debut, "Moon," but in its own way it's an even more satisfying time slice of identity-scrambled sci-fi. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrMar 31, 2011
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 full review
70
Boxoffice MagazinePete HammondMar 14, 2011
A Hitchcockian thriller with a bit of "Unstoppable" and a little "Unknown," Source Code is a pulse-pounding flick. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanMar 31, 2011
Sitting through Source Code is like watching a chef coax a beautiful soufflé into perfect shape for 80 minutes, then drop a bowling ball on it. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesMar 31, 2011
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 full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertMar 31, 2011
An ingenious thriller that comes billed as science fiction, although its science is preposterous. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMar 31, 2011
Source Code is a contraption, no doubt. But it works. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerApr 1, 2011
In Source Code, the new thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal, "Groundhog Day" goes metaphysical. Some people, I know, will argue that "Groundhog Day" was already metaphysical. Perhaps, but compared with "Source Code," it's "Caddyshack." Read full review
80
EmpireKim NewmanMar 28, 2011
An exciting, intellectually stimulating science-fiction thriller which also connects emotionally. Everyone involved earns a promotion to the premiership. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumMar 30, 2011
Among all the chess-piece players on the board, the star is the only one who really builds a solid emotional foundation for his character. Read full review
91
IndieWireEric KohnMar 14, 2011
Showcases Jones' ability to provide ample entertainment value with sharply drawn characters in a minimalist setting. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranMar 31, 2011
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 full review
63
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezMar 31, 2011
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 full review
40
MovielineElvis MitchellMar 31, 2011
Somewhere under all that bloat is the greatest short subject of all time. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierApr 1, 2011
The first film in a while to have a decent heart while quickening your pulse. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinMar 28, 2011
It's a crackerjack ride, shot and edited for maximum discombobulation. Read full review
75
New York PostLou LumenickApr 1, 2011
A fun ride of a sci-fi thriller with terrific romantic chemistry between Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan. Read full review
60
NPRScott TobiasApr 1, 2011
Based on its thrillingly fractured first half - not to mention "Moon" in its entirety - Jones seems much smarter than he allows the film to be in the end. It wriggles out of its own intriguing puzzle. Read full review
75
ObserverUna LaMarcheApr 6, 2011
The psychological payoffs outweigh any implausibilities. And what's the harm in logging off your network for a few hours to indulge in some good old-fashioned science fiction? Read full review
75
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreMar 30, 2011
Duncan Jones, director of the very fine and very paranoid "Moon," makes this seemingly silly situation work, building tension over 93 minutes. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerDavid HiltbrandMar 31, 2011
Gyllenhaal is particularly unsuited to this role, his saucer eyes flashing from calm to crazed. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianShawn LevyMar 31, 2011
This is hair-raising, clever and winning entertainment. Even if his protagonists aren't entirely what they seem to be or think they are, Mr. Jones is, it's increasingly clear, the real thing. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMar 30, 2011
Well paced and energetic; it's unlikely to bore anyone. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversMar 31, 2011
Working from a tight script by Ben Ripley, Jones creates scary, hairy, high-octane tension. Disbelief? Suspended, until the logic lapses kick in later. It's a small price to pay for a ride that starts at wild and accelerates from there. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'HehirMar 31, 2011
Everything we learn about Stevens and Christina and Goodwin by the end of the film comes from their actions, not their words. That lends Source Code an elusive, almost arty shimmer beneath its glossy, action-movie surface. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMar 31, 2011
Director Duncan Jones achieves a strange and winning amalgam, a gripping action film that also works as poetry. Read full review
70
SlateJohn SwansburgMar 31, 2011
Source Code has a resonance that too many contemporary thrillers lack. Gyllenhaal invests Stevens with the simmering anger and grinning charm familiar to the genre, but also with a real sense of vulnerability. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonApr 1, 2011
As popcorn entertainment, it's right on schedule. Read full review
75
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallMar 30, 2011
White-knuckle fun. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsMar 31, 2011
For a while it's the rare film that-in the mold of the first "Matrix" movie and "Inception," although on a more modest scale than either-mixes heady puzzles with gripping suspense. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Stephen ColeMar 31, 2011
Michelle Monaghan's clowning response to her boyfriend's sudden histrionics lends the drama a giddy fizz. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttMar 14, 2011
The movie boils down to one character, acting under enormous pressures of space and time, racing to solve a mystery. In this case, that may be good enough. Read full review
70
The New York TimesManohla DargisMar 31, 2011
In crucial ways, Source Code, written by Ben Ripley, recalls "Moon," Mr. Jones's accomplished feature debut about a solitary astronaut played by Sam Rockwell. Source Code is bigger, shinier, pricier. Read full review
80
The New YorkerDavid DenbyApr 8, 2011
Source Code is a formally disciplined work -- a triumph of movie syntax -- made with rhythm and pace. Jones, unlike most commercial directors, accelerates the tempo without producing visual gibberish. [11 April, 2011 p. 88]
50
TimeMary PolsApr 3, 2011
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 full review
60
Time OutKeith UhlichMar 29, 2011
What begins as a tense, inventive suspense film becomes, to paraphrase Doctor Who, a wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey, mushy-wushy mess. That's decidedly NOT fantastic. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia PuigMar 31, 2011
A high-octane mind game best enjoyed by following a key character's advice: "The Source Code is a gift. Don't squander it by thinking." Read full review
50
VarietyAndrew BarkerMar 14, 2011
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 full review
80
Village VoiceAaron HillisMar 29, 2011
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 full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayMar 31, 2011
A taut, mostly well-crafted race against the clock that combines the time-loop conceit of "Groundhog Day" and the postwar paranoia of "The Manchurian Candidate." Read full review
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