Screenplay pReview: Source Code

I don't want to say director Duncan Jones looks like Peter Pettigrew in this picture but... well, he looks kind of like Peter Pettigrew in this picture.

Anyway, Source Code, the screenplay that's been kicking since 2007 that everyone and their momma loves and will likely finally be in production early next year (Jake Gyllenhaal in negotiations to star).

I thought it was good. *shrug*

It's billed as a sci-fi/thriller and yeah, it's a good script. A really good script. I wasn't bored once and that, in my novice screenplay-reading experience, means something. Whether it's because I'm new to the screenplay format and it takes a little extra work to fully immerse myself in, or whether I've just been reading crappier screenplays, I start getting antsy and distracted half way through them. This one I didn't.

The problem is, to me, it read like it would play out like any other blockbuster action/suspense movie of the modern age and since I came into it expecting sci fi... well, I was disappointed.
The sci-fi comes in the concept, and little in what you see. What I mean by that is it's not a spaceship movie or outerspace movie, or what my brother calls "Real Sci-Fi." It doesn't take place in the future, there aren't any aliens, and most of the story takes place in the contemporary world that we all experience - it's on a train to NYC most of the time. It wouldn't be a sci-fi movie if not for how it is that the main character is having his Groundhog Day, which I don't want to reveal cause that's one of the more interesting bits.

I think it will be up to the director of the film on whether or not this is going to play out like a Bourne movie - unless some details are changed in production, which is always possible, it feels like an action movie. I like the Bourne movies and I like action movies so it's not necessarily a super bad thing but... it'd be nice to have an awesome sci-fi movie. I haven't seen Duncan Jones' movie Moon, despite wanting to, so I can't comment on whether or not I think he's going to be able to give it a sci-fi feel. I hope so though. I miss good sci-fi.

However, what I learned from this screenplay is that one can take any story and jam it into any genre. I don't mean that negatively. Once someone comes up with a concept or story, it takes little manipulation to genre jump which can make all the difference in marketability. Sure, depending on how far you adapt it it will affect the story and maybe even it's meaning or underlying message, but it can come out stronger. This truth speaks to why stories of any genre can be personal to anyone, why we can identify with vampires and robots and animals; the strength of a story lies in its humanity which can in turn be made more exciting or otherwise amplified by its setting.

It's a really good script but it could be better, I think. 8/10. Despite what Carson over at Script Shadow said about it being "sci-fi that makes you feel," I thought it could use a little more strength in the "makes you feel" area. It's there, definitely, and I myself can justify reasons the character has and his motivations, and what's going on in his mind and heart and I don't think a story should lay it all out for the audience. However, it's definitely overshadowed by the action, and while that's what is the trend in action movies, I feel like all the great films, no matter the genre, have strong emotional roots one can latch on to. This story, in it's current form, is just short of that.

What do you think?