tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post2168437338883199764..comments2024-03-05T21:05:36.848-05:00Comments on CommentaramaFilms: Film Friday: Source Code (2011)AndrewPricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comBlogger58125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-12225113262926149322013-11-07T20:18:04.519-05:002013-11-07T20:18:04.519-05:00John, No problem, I understood who you meant. :)
...John, No problem, I understood who you meant. :)<br /><br />You have an interesting take on the film and I think that at an analysis level you are correct. I do like the idea behind this film and I think it could make for an effective film.<br /><br />But in this case, I think the execution just wasn't very good. I think that the director and writer were just too sloppy in terms of explaining the idea behind what they were doing and in how the characters all react too perfectly for the story to feel real. Few of the reactions Jake gets from the other characters feel real to me, they feel like "what the plot needs." And the story feels like it's full of throwaway ideas that are just there to make sure that Jake succeeds.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-17765947427116341272013-11-07T16:42:03.599-05:002013-11-07T16:42:03.599-05:00PS. Sorry for some imperfect writing above - the e...PS. Sorry for some imperfect writing above - the editing window is small. Also by "Jake", I mean (of course) his character Colter Stevens.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18105609617071999765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-64165365005279869432013-11-07T16:32:27.571-05:002013-11-07T16:32:27.571-05:00(continued)
In the process, he discovers a vital ...(continued)<br /><br />In the process, he discovers a vital piece of information. When he first leaves the train to follow a suspect, he sees the train blow-up. He only "returns to base" when his body is killed under another train. In other words, he lived beyond the 8 minute limit of the "simulation". It is his only hope to convince Goodwin to kill instead the body they have, so that he can live on in the simulation.<br /><br />At this point, the movie delivers a beautiful reward for your attention. Why does he turn to Goodwin to help him? Well, because she has always seemed to be on his side, and encouraged him that everything would be alright. During his final trip into the Source Code, he realise that in this new universe, there is still a Source Code project waiting to use a helicopter pilot in a coma to thwart a terrorist plot. He will avert this one, but there will be another, so he phones Goodwin and tells her what he knows, asking her to reassure his alter ego in the new universe that everything will be alright.<br /><br />This reminds us of the impatience Rutledge feels, waiting for an opportunity to use the Source Code. Why has there been no such opportunity? Well, perhaps it is because he lives in a universe which has already benefitted from the Source Code many times, with many plots thwarted.<br /><br />The genius of the film is that Jake not only finds his own salvation, but also way to build it into the system.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18105609617071999765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-379274326530693022013-11-07T16:27:02.730-05:002013-11-07T16:27:02.730-05:00I enjoyed this movie, and thought it might be inte...I enjoyed this movie, and thought it might be interesting to explain why, as a counterpoint to the generally negative review and reception posted to date.<br /><br />First, let me address the science. Most scifi requires the suspension of some disbelief, and this film is no different. Some of the science in this movie is plain nonsense, but it falls into a fairly standard "quantum theory can explain anything" trope. In this respect, it is no worse than a movie involving time travel or faster-than-light travel.<br /><br />The movie is based on the "many-worlds" interpretation of quantum mechanics, which "explains" the randomness/unpredictability inherent in quantum theory by saying that all possibilities happen: a random quantum event causes the universe to fork into multiple universes, each representing a possible outcome. This idea is then linked with the standard Copenhagen interpretation, in which these random quantum events are caused by sentient observers. Schroedinger's cat is neither alive nor dead until someone observes it, and then the universe forks in two: one universe in which the cat is alive, and one in which it is dead.<br /><br />This makes sentient observers rather special. The premise of the movie is that living brains keep track of the quantum state of their environment for 8 minutes. This is clearly nonsense, but to enjoy a movie you have to accept the premise, from perfect beings to replicants indistinguishable from humans.<br /><br />The Source Code project can read this information from a dead person brain, and hence (they believe) send another living mind into a simulation of the environment during the last 8 minutes of the dead person's life.<br /><br />What they do not realise is that their machinery actually creates a quantum event, causing the universe to fork: one universe in which the person with 8 minutes to die was not substituted, and one in which he/she was. However, the universes remain connected by the mind inhabiting both of them, until it dies in one of them.<br /><br />Of course the movie does not explain this at the start, and so it creates a mystery for the viewer to solve. The clever thing about the movie is that this is also the mystery that Jake must solve. The mystery about the bomber is a red herring: this is the mystery that the Source Code people want Jake to solve, but he has nothing to gain by solving it.<br /><br />This is why the bomber is so bland, vague and cliche. Like Sex, Lies and Videotapes, the movie is not about what we may at first think it is about. It is about Jake, a soldier coming to terms with the fact that he is effectively dead, but has been imprisoned in truly surreal afterlife, in which he can continue to serve his country by inhabiting some else's mind in the last 8 minutes of their life.<br /><br />It is essential to the plot that he is not a typical disciplined military pilot who obeys orders without question and thinks only of the mission. He is trying to understand his predicament and escape it, while also demonstrating progress on the mission.<br /><br />I don't agree with the view that he takes unnecessary risks. His situation is a bit like having 10 parcels, 9 of which are bombs, and one contains 1 million dollars. In real life, you do not open a parcel at random. However, if you know that the result of failure is not death, but being given another chance, then you systematically open the parcels one-by-one until you find the prize. And so Jake tries to chase down as many possibilities as possible on each visit until he finds the right one.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18105609617071999765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-34724344085107733562012-07-01T23:00:13.492-04:002012-07-01T23:00:13.492-04:00whitsbrain, Thanks for the comment and thanks for ...whitsbrain, Thanks for the comment and thanks for joining us! :)<br /><br />I think your review is spot on. When I first started, I tried very hard to get into the characters. I struggled with it more than you did, but I wanted very much to like the movie and I was willing to accept them... until things started to fall apart, like how he knew too much and how many of his actions were nonsensical.<br /><br />I agree completely that the villain is annoying. Not only is he bland and pointless, but he is yet another liberal political statement on the terrorism issue -- I'd forgotten the bit about the box being red, white and blue. I'm sick of that.<br /><br />And then they did toss out their rules whenever they got in the way and the whole movie largely became nonsense.<br /><br />Ultimately, I think you're right that the purpose was to go for the lowest common denominator with the ending. This film worked very hard to stay so shallow that no one could possibly fail to grasp the film. That's a huge mistake for science fiction.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-20251575234035519962012-07-01T20:14:21.866-04:002012-07-01T20:14:21.866-04:00Continuing...
I first got miffed about what is no...Continuing...<br /><br />I first got miffed about what is now a growing Hollywood cliche. The terrorist who planted the bombs is a white male who is trying to "reduce the world to rubble". He's obviously an anti-Government wacko, in fact a patriotic wacko, because when Stevens finds the terrorist's dirty bomb, it's in a red, white and blue trunk. Stevens remarks "very patriotic". Ugh...could they have presented a safer, more politically correct bad guy? This snapped me into a more critical mindset and I started wondering, if Stevens has 'become' Sean, he would only be able to know what information Sean's experienced about the train. Sean was a teacher, a simple passenger yet somehow Stevens knows damned near everything about the train. He also leaves the train to follow a passenger he first suspects. Could he do that if Sean hadn't done it previously? Where is all of this information coming from? We've also learned that Captain Stevens actually died in a mission in Afghanistan, but he's in a sort of coma that is allowing his mind to be used for the Source Code project. Stevens also learns of his condition and struggles with it while still acting as Sean the teacher and trying to find the bomber.<br /><br />Stevens eventually figures out who the bomber is, saves Chicago but loses the train to the first bomb. Heartbroken, Stevens pleads with Source Code's controller, Goodwin, to allow him to go back one more time to save the train...and Christina. After 8 minutes he instructs Goodwin to basically 'pull the plug' and allow him to die. She complies and Stevens successfully saves the train and has a few last moments with Christina. He asks her what she would do with her last minute. As final seconds of his last 8 minutes ticks away, he kisses her, the Source Code clock expires, and everything on the train is frozen in time. Stevens' last moment shows him kissing Christina. He has died but has saved the train and her life. It's a touching way for our hero to enter eternity and a very good, but bittersweet ending. <br /><br />Then a terrible thing happens...the movie continues and breaks all of the rules its worked so hard to establish. I'm not going to explain what occurs in the last 10 minutes other than to say it's either to give us an entirely happy ending or to set up a sequel. I can almost excuse the possibility of a lead in to a sequel, business is business. But I think this travesty of a tacked on ending is due to Hollywood and it's mostly thick-headed customers needing a totally happy ending.whitsbrainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18171082058163775614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-87741111382276413912012-07-01T20:13:51.652-04:002012-07-01T20:13:51.652-04:00I've never commented here, but have been readi...I've never commented here, but have been reading and enjoying this site for some time. I think I should contribute. I'm pasting my own review that I posted on Rotten Tomatoes and Pteforums on July 30, 2011 regarding this movie. Spoilers follow...<br /><br />I got invested in the characters right from the start while viewing "Source Code". Jake Gyllenhaal is Captain Stevens and Michelle Monaghan plays Christina, both passengers on a commuter train headed to Chicago. The train explodes during its route and Captain Stevens "wakes up" in a dark capsule, is told a minimal amount of information, and is then sent back to the exact moment in time that we first saw him on the train. We learn that Stevens is on a military mission to find a bomb that killed everyone on board and that he must also find the person who planted the bomb because they are likely responsible for threatening to explode a dirty bomb in the middle of the city. <br /><br />I really sunk myself into the plight of Stevens and fell for the cute Christina, not really thinking at all about the improbability of what was happening. Earlier in the movie, we learn that the 'Source Code' project allows one person to assume another person's mind for 8 minutes. So Stevens takes over the consciousness of a teacher, Sean, that was killed during the explosion. Turns out, Sean and Christina had a budding relationship and Stevens' mind has now replaced that of Sean. The whole idea is a lot like "Groundhog Day" with Stevens dying every 8 minutes and then going back to the same point to try and save the train and also thwart the upcoming bombing of Chicago. He searches for clues and mistakenly follows a couple of characters both on and off the train.<br /><br />Suspending disbelief is a really subjective thing for me. Sometimes I'll allow myself to accept the most ridiculous premise and other times I'll question everything going on with a roll of the eyes and an accompanying groan. But in this case, I got myself caught up in the building relationship between the two main characters and I actually enjoyed myself. Then things started to fall apart.whitsbrainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18171082058163775614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-32489649213699491772012-07-01T02:18:29.012-04:002012-07-01T02:18:29.012-04:00Thanks Ben! Nice comment!
I agree about Jake. I...Thanks Ben! Nice comment!<br /><br />I agree about Jake. I don't know why they want to promote him. He just doesn't have the gravitas to lend the credibility he needs to play basically anything. I think Ethan Hawk is the better actor, but again, he's only marginally better than Jake and he too just doesn't bring anything to a role. And as much as it pains me to say this, I agree with you that Shia is a better action star. Now I need a shower.<br /><br />Nice way to put it, the plot is insulting to the audience. It really is. It's all so nebulous and based on nothing at all. And then they act all pissy whenever it comes time to explain it and they act like the problem is that the audience isn't smart enough to handle the explanation. That's insulting.<br /><br />Totally agree about the long term effects of films like this. The more crap they produce under the science fiction label, the more people are likely to dismiss these films and the harder it becomes for the gems to really shine.<br /><br />I'm glad to hear I got you to watch <i>Triangle</i>! I know we've been discussing it, but I didn't know you had seen it on my recommendation! That's cool! As I mention in the review, I almost didn't see it myself for the same reason -- Bermuda Triangle films stink. But I'm really glad I did. (As an aside, I watched it again last night and I noticed that the marching band uses the same symbol on their drums as the Aeolus uses AND her house number is the same as the room number on the ship where the writing is on the mirror and the room from <i>The Shining</i>! What a cool movie!<br /><br />In terms of what the terrorists are, I honestly don't care, except that Hollywood makes me care by never making it anything except white, conservative men. It's stupid and it's offensive at this point.<br /><br />I suspect the asterisk on this film will be that it will ultimately be forgotten.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-21419440462279449102012-07-01T02:06:10.637-04:002012-07-01T02:06:10.637-04:00Excellent annihilation of a stupid movie, Andrew!
...Excellent annihilation of a stupid movie, Andrew!<br /><br />I concure it wasn't overtly political, or it didn't coherently come across that way.<br />In fact, it wasn't coherent at all.<br /><br />I think Shia Labouf makes a better action hero than Jake the flake.<br />Not that I'm endorsing Labouf. Just sayin' he's more believable.<br /><br />I don't understand why Hollywood wants to promote Jake so much. He has limited acting ability and absolutely no gravitas or charisma.<br /><br />I do think Hawke is a better actor, but he's another actor that doesn't have much gravitas.<br />Not in anything I have seen him in. But he's marginally better than Jakey.<br /><br />Tired and old cliches galore in this movie.<br />These cliches also happen to be popular liberal points of view, so I guess in that sense one could find this film political, but again, not in any way that is coherent.<br /><br />And the plot is just..."because we said so, shut up! They're scientists man!"<br />The plot, suck as it is, is insulting to the viewer.<br /><br />It's analogous to a song without any structure or boundaries and everyone just does what they want when they want.<br /><br />Only this is worse because there's no talent to make up for it.<br />No one grabs your attention. Nothing is mildly interesting because from the get go the director insults the audience and keeps insulting.<br /><br />"And for my next act, I'll pull another rabbit from my hat" kind of stuff. <br />No suspense, no logic or reason, just magic. So shut up!<br /><br />I really hate when self described sci fi movies take an interesting idea and eviscerate it. <br />That would be bad enough but it actually kinda ruins it for serious sci fi directors that might wanna use that idea in the future.<br /><br />That's why films like Triangle get overlooked because 98% of burmuda triangle films are garbage and no one expects another one to be any better.<br /><br />I know that Triangle wasn't about the burmuda triangle but the title made it seem that way so I almost didn't watch it.<br />Only your review made me wanna see it.<br /><br />That's what inept directors/producers/actors/writers do, they sometimes ruin it for good directors/producers/actors/writers. Which is a bummer because really good films get overlooked because of it.<br /><br />And you're absolutely right, when tens of thousands of terrorist acts are committed by muslims one would think you would see that reflected in films that have terrorists in it.<br /><br />Of course, if hollywood is to be believed 99% of terrorists are white, and usually right wing neo nazis (which makes no sense since nazis weren't right wing or conservative, but they want us to believe it), or christians or rich people.<br />So predictible and boring and stupid.<br /><br />In this film the terrorist was white but I had no indication of his politics if he had any, other than the American flag thing which made no sense either, unless they were trying to say this guy was a self described patriot and patriotism is bad or something.<br /><br />It's possible, I guess but it's never clear (like the entire movie...nothing is clear).<br /><br />There should be a law prohibiting any future sci fi films unless there's a competent crew ready with a good story and characters we care about.<br /><br />Okay, I keed, but there should be an asterik on the films that give sci fi a bad name.<br />That would sure save us a lot of time.USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-4931925668846759722012-07-01T01:46:58.272-04:002012-07-01T01:46:58.272-04:00USArtguy, I feel the same way. It's been about...USArtguy, I feel the same way. It's been about a week now and the movie is getting very hazy already. There is nothing to latch onto in this film.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-25299201501589259772012-07-01T01:18:06.025-04:002012-07-01T01:18:06.025-04:00I rarely see movies at first run theaters anymore ...I rarely see movies at first run theaters anymore and this is one I rented just a few weeks ago. I was in the rental store again just this past Thursday evening and walked passed the DVD. I knew I had recently watched it, but darn if I could remember anything about the movie! This movie is like some albums I have; sort of ok while you're listening, but as soon as the album is over you think "what did I just listen to?USArtguyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06062334713741697082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-37965254197894028922012-06-30T00:16:40.541-04:002012-06-30T00:16:40.541-04:00Lawhawk, I can't disagree with that at all. I...Lawhawk, I can't disagree with that at all. In the real world, the number of Swedish, German, British or non-descript European terrorists is pretty close to zero. Meanwhile, Muslims committed close to 80,000 terrorist attacks in the past couple years around the world.<br /><br />Yet, outside of <i>True Lies</i>, the terrorists Hollywood portrays are pretty much 100% Anglo-European, and whoa-betide the filmmakers who dares to suggest that an Arab might be a terrorist instead of the most noble person on earth.<br /><br />I get really sick of that. And then they have the nerve to accuse of us racial profiling!!<br /><br />That's unacceptable.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-56363825484108919412012-06-30T00:04:28.246-04:002012-06-30T00:04:28.246-04:00There are more good but misunderstood Arabs in one...There are more good but misunderstood Arabs in one Hollywood movie than there are in all of the Middle East. I'm fed up to the neck with these ridiculous portrayals. It's time to leave the Swedes who blew up the World Trade Center alone, along with the Italian Catholics who blew up the Bali disco and the English Jews who blew up the African embassies, and start portraying Islamists honestly.<br /><br />My favorite bowdlerization and sanitized movie just happens to be on right now. I'm a big fan of Tom Clancy, but <i>The Sum of All Fears</i> made me want to throw up. Clancy should have demanded to have his name removed from the credits. The Russkies are portrayed as misunderstood, but the Arabs who use a nuke to blow up Baltimore become, aw crap, neo-Nazis. The only "bad" Arabs were the ones duped by the evil Nazis. The only upside is that they did nuke Baltimore.LawHawkRFDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17800255923675295515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-34303990854549463252012-06-29T23:58:05.356-04:002012-06-29T23:58:05.356-04:00T-Rav, He did in fact travel to the arctic to prom...T-Rav, He did in fact travel to the arctic to promote the cause of global warming.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-10729378905898305042012-06-29T23:43:23.444-04:002012-06-29T23:43:23.444-04:00And also, he starred in The Day After Tomorrow. An...And also, he starred in <i>The Day After Tomorrow</i>. And no doubt believed every bit of it.T-Ravhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10861218035729479354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-66445732470964492282012-06-29T21:50:22.509-04:002012-06-29T21:50:22.509-04:00Patriot, Yes, he's a helicopter pilot. That&#...Patriot, Yes, he's a helicopter pilot. That's what I say in the article.<br /><br />His politics are far, far left. Here is the mild statement from the Wikipedia on his politics:<br /><br /><i>Gyllenhaal has promoted various political and social causes. He has appeared in Rock the Vote advertising, campaigned for the Democratic Party in the 2004 U.S. presidential election, promoted environmental causes, and campaigned on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union.</i>AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-5897751114370329932012-06-29T21:46:51.155-04:002012-06-29T21:46:51.155-04:00What are Jake's politics? Doesn't look too...What are Jake's politics? Doesn't look too intelligent....more of the brooding emo type that some lib babe would fall for. So I guess it wouldn't surprise me that he might be a Obamaton.....<br /><br />And wasn't his character here a helicopter pilot? Not a fighter pilot? Big difference between the two.Patriothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01533169053860540075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-32827994163165180422012-06-29T19:35:23.277-04:002012-06-29T19:35:23.277-04:00Scott, I agree that the villain doesn't always...Scott, I agree that the villain doesn't always need to be an Arab, but that's not the point. The point is that they keep including this idea that somehow all the white people will suspect the Arabs just because we're racist. That's what bothers me, the idea that Hollywood keeps tossing this in there as an accusation.<br /><br />On BH, yeah, I see nothing to suggest this guy is a Tea Party type. He struck me as just an insane nerd.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-42396969341422412482012-06-29T18:40:08.506-04:002012-06-29T18:40:08.506-04:00T-Rav, Very, very true. And I don't know if t...T-Rav, Very, very true. And I don't know if this one tried to be political or not, but it certainly was stupid.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-265648699748476332012-06-29T18:28:47.251-04:002012-06-29T18:28:47.251-04:00T-Rav -
Too true! :-)T-Rav - <br /><br />Too true! :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-18996113021400785592012-06-29T18:28:32.106-04:002012-06-29T18:28:32.106-04:00Speaking of racial profiling, there was another mo...Speaking of racial profiling, there was another movie that came out five or six years ago called <i>Flight Plan</i>. It starred Jodie Foster and was basically <i>Panic Room</i> on a plane. I remember there were a couple of Middle Eastern passengers who were used as a red herring. BH didn't exist, nor did Nolte's old site, but Libertas had a problem with that and I guess some things never change.<br /><br />I realize if this were a perfect world, movie/TV villains would come in all shapes and colors, and yeah it sucks that some people seemingly go out of there way NOT to offend certain groups. But on the other extreme, the Middle Eastern guy can't be the villain all the time either. The movie would be over in five minutes!<br /><br />Andrew and DUQ - I don't remember everything BH mentioned about the film but I do remember disagreeing with it. (I think they assumed the villain was a Tea Partier because the box with the bomb in it was emblazoned with an American flag, but we really find out nothing about the guy. Another critic could just as easily assume he's with OWS.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-84858849001998597642012-06-29T18:25:28.729-04:002012-06-29T18:25:28.729-04:00Just remember, it doesn't have to be political...Just remember, it doesn't have to be political to be really, really stupid.T-Ravhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10861218035729479354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-44988289573405991382012-06-29T18:04:49.897-04:002012-06-29T18:04:49.897-04:00DUQ, I don't recall exactly what BH said eithe...DUQ, I don't recall exactly what BH said either, but I don't think there's very much political meaning behind this film. They may have intended that, who knows, but they certainly didn't manage to get it across. There's just no there there with this one.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-53544206603164938452012-06-29T17:19:09.058-04:002012-06-29T17:19:09.058-04:00I don't remember much of the BH discussion of ...I don't remember much of the BH discussion of this film except the issue with the racial profiling. I take it that Scott thinks that was overblown? What do other people think?DUQnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059293386881623259.post-12589131397657161682012-06-29T16:41:05.977-04:002012-06-29T16:41:05.977-04:00Scott, I actually got no vibe out of him except &q...Scott, I actually got no vibe out of him except "insane nerd." I honestly can't tell you what his motive was except that people are bad. I see no political affiliation or any real grievances.<br /><br />As for the concept being interesting, I agree to the extent we are speaking in the abstract -- going back for short periods to solve a crime. That's interesting. But that was completely mishandled in this film. They struggled to avoid telling you anything about how this would work, or what the rules are, and then we were supposed to act surprised when the rules we don't know about turn out to be false. It was too fake to be at all meaningful.<br /><br />In terms of this being mind-bending, give me a break. Only an idiot would think that. This movie couldn't be more straightforward. There isn't a twist or mind stretching moment.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.com