Source Code: Patriotic *and* Rebellious!

Source Code, starring a gruff, much more manly-looking (read: adult) Jake Gyllenhaal and an ever-sweet and perky Michelle Monaghan, spreads out the story of a soldier who is part of a project to jump "back" through a shadow of time to stop a terrorist.  It gently but interestingly mixes science fiction with that dramatic flair that patriotic films like to have and overall is quite balanced in its biases.

On one end, it's made very apparent that the military is doing everything it can to make the country a safer place, even at extreme measures of testing scientific realms that are still very much just theory and opinion right now--at least to the rest of the Average Joe Schmoe's out there.

On the other end, it explores issues surrounding the harnessing of those scientific realms in a very ethical sense.  We get to know Gyllenhaall's character pretty well from the git-go, we sympathize with his tension and confusion and his sense of urgency and curiosity.  Getting close to him, we see his side more intimately than the military's, and as an audience, it makes us see that those extreme measures the military takes to save millions can not only be questionable, but can also be unnerving.

One thing I particularly liked about this film was that it wasn't completely just about finding out "who done it," but it was about the main characters experience through this ordeal he is forced to repeat over and over again.  It adds to the film's depth, and in doing so, makes it overall more entertaining to follow the story.

Sadly, this film will probably be overlooked, because while there is the science fiction draw, it's made readily apparent that the military is not who you're rooting for, which turns lots of red-blooded Americans average moviegoers away.  On top of that, it's got a big fat red sign on it that screams "SCIENCE" which also tends to be a bit more intimidating than taking your toddler to go see a cartoon where you can mentally tune out while the kid's attention span is finally not fixated on you, food, or some other random object or person that requires you to be ever-mindful, even though you just got done working and still need to worry about grabbing that one thing you're out of that you need tonight or dinner will suck.

Point in short: Entertaining, thought-provoking, well-written, and blended with a few crazy explosions!  Yay!