Ed's Review Dot Com

Mark Gordon Company, The, Vendome Pictures, Vendôme Production

Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright, Michael Arden, Cas Anvar, Russell Peters, Brent Skagford, Craig Thomas

Coulter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) is an American Helicopter pilot who’s last memory is flying in Afghanistan. Suddenly he’s on a Chicago commuter train with another man’s identity and he’s completely confused. 8 minutes later, the train explodes and he wakes up in a pod being questioned by the folks at Nellis Air Force Base. Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) and her boss, Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright) keep sending him back to the train for another 8 minutes to try and find out who the bomber is. Nothing else matters but finding and identifying the bomber.

This is a wild science fiction story, not about time travel, per se, but based on the premise that when a person dies, the brain does not blink out instantly, but about the last 8 minutes is still in memory. Using the memories of these last 8 minutes, a computer model of the situation can be created. Yeah, well there are some serious holes in this theory, because the only things in memory would be that which you saw and that which you know. For example, if it’s a computer model of the last 8 minutes, how could you walk up to a stranger that the subject had never spoken to, and ask him to show you his wallet so you could identify him? Where would that data come from and how would that get updated? It’s a huge gaping hole, but this movie asks you to suspend all belief in reality and accept the premise, kind of like Sleeping Beauty can prick her finger on a spindle and sleep for 100 years to be awakened by “love’s first kiss”.

But the story is fun, full of action, and if you can put away your disbelief, you will enjoy the excitement of going back time and time again ala “Groundhog Day” until he gets it right. Science Fiction is sometimes more fiction that science, but that’s okay. Sometimes it’s just fun to enjoy the ride. Jake Gyllenhaal is very good in this film, and is highly motivated to solve the mystery by a beautiful gal sharing the seat with him on the train. Christina Waqrren (Michelle Monaghan) is not only lovely, but a sometime unwilling partner in helping Colter figure this out.

Now when the ending occurs, you will either say, “Hunh?” or “That makes perfect sense”, depending on whether you bought the premise in the first place. This is not a classic bit of screenwriting, but it is a fun adventure and worth watching when it comes around.

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