Script rec: Source Code
Source Code by Ben Ripley (sci-fi, 121 pages, click to download)
A man wakes up on a train with no recollection of how he got there.
wow. wow. i've read so many scripts by now that pretty much nothing interests me anymore, but i could not tear my eyes away from this one. i've never devoured a script so fast. it blew me away.
i've been told that source code is a lot like deja vu, the sci-fi thriller starring denzel washington that came out a few years ago, but much better (i haven't seen the movie, so i can't validate the comparisons, but the premises sound pretty similar). basically, a soldier (colter) wakes up on a train and has no idea where he is or how he got there. after finding out that he's on a train to new york, he freaks out, runs to the bathroom, and is shocked to discover that the face in the mirror isn't his. at that moment, he notices that the air vent above the sink is open. he climbs up to investigate and, to his shock, discovers a ticking bomb in the crawl space up there. before he can alert anyone, the bomb blows up in his face, and he dies.
okay, with that kind of opening scene, how can you not be intrigued? immediately afterwards, colter wakes up in some kind of sensory deprivation pod. a man (goodwin) stands outside, ignoring colter's demands to know what's going on, and recites memory thread exercises designed to help him remember what's going on. somewhere in the back of his mind, colter knows this has happened before, but his last memory is of himself on a plane in iraq. he has no idea what happened between then and now. he's told that the bombing of the train actually happened earlier that morning, and his purpose is to find out who planted the bomb before the terrorist carries out his threat to bomb three other major US locations that afternoon. and with that, colter is sent back onto the train with only 17 minutes to start over and identify the culprit.
the story jumps back and forth between these two settings -- the train and the lab -- for the rest of the script. i had trouble at first believing that the story would get anywhere if it kept returning to the same starting point, but the author does a brilliant job developing the characters and the plot with each new train scene. there is, of course, a girl: christina, the spunky artist who sits next to colter on the train and helps him figure out what's happening. colter knows he can't be with her, because she's already dead in the real world, but each time he revisits the train, he falls a little harder for her. his feelings for her -- and his desperation to figure out what's happening to him -- justifies his determination to figure out what's going on. the threat of three more bombings creates a ticking bomb effect, which ties everything together beautifully.
i'm actually getting chills as i type this. as much as i love a good sci-fi story (and believe me, the sci-fi in this one is good), i can't connect to a script unless i believe the characters. colter's fear, anger, yearning, and resignation are breathtakingly tangible. colter knows he can never be free -- he's either stuck in those 17 minutes on the train, unable to prevent the girl he might love from dying, or trapped in the pod surrounded by heartless scientists who won't give him answers. it's the worst kind of torture imaginable, and your heart aches for him as you start to understand how cruel the situation is.
the bomb mystery is relatively simple, but the question of what's happening to colter is what really drives the story. my only qualm with the script is i would have liked the writer to include a little more exposition about the rules of the world. is it set in the future? how does the timing work? how did they design this project? this is an early draft, though, so i'm sure those questions have been answered in the shooting script.
perhaps it's just the reader in me that loves this script so much. it reads incredibly well, but i can see why it took so long for a studio to greenlight it. most of the tension in the story stems from the colter's thoughts and emotions, which obviously won't translate as well on screen. still, i'm excited that the project has finally moved onto principle photography. for those who don't know, the film will star jake gyllenhaal as colter, michelle monaghan as christina, and vera farmiga as goodwin (i have no idea where that came from, but i'm intrigued). oh, and the best part? duncan jones is directing. as in, the duncan jones who directed moon, another brilliant sci-fi movie.
keep an eye out for this one, guys. if it's treated well, it could become a cult classic.
A man wakes up on a train with no recollection of how he got there.
wow. wow. i've read so many scripts by now that pretty much nothing interests me anymore, but i could not tear my eyes away from this one. i've never devoured a script so fast. it blew me away.
i've been told that source code is a lot like deja vu, the sci-fi thriller starring denzel washington that came out a few years ago, but much better (i haven't seen the movie, so i can't validate the comparisons, but the premises sound pretty similar). basically, a soldier (colter) wakes up on a train and has no idea where he is or how he got there. after finding out that he's on a train to new york, he freaks out, runs to the bathroom, and is shocked to discover that the face in the mirror isn't his. at that moment, he notices that the air vent above the sink is open. he climbs up to investigate and, to his shock, discovers a ticking bomb in the crawl space up there. before he can alert anyone, the bomb blows up in his face, and he dies.
okay, with that kind of opening scene, how can you not be intrigued? immediately afterwards, colter wakes up in some kind of sensory deprivation pod. a man (goodwin) stands outside, ignoring colter's demands to know what's going on, and recites memory thread exercises designed to help him remember what's going on. somewhere in the back of his mind, colter knows this has happened before, but his last memory is of himself on a plane in iraq. he has no idea what happened between then and now. he's told that the bombing of the train actually happened earlier that morning, and his purpose is to find out who planted the bomb before the terrorist carries out his threat to bomb three other major US locations that afternoon. and with that, colter is sent back onto the train with only 17 minutes to start over and identify the culprit.
the story jumps back and forth between these two settings -- the train and the lab -- for the rest of the script. i had trouble at first believing that the story would get anywhere if it kept returning to the same starting point, but the author does a brilliant job developing the characters and the plot with each new train scene. there is, of course, a girl: christina, the spunky artist who sits next to colter on the train and helps him figure out what's happening. colter knows he can't be with her, because she's already dead in the real world, but each time he revisits the train, he falls a little harder for her. his feelings for her -- and his desperation to figure out what's happening to him -- justifies his determination to figure out what's going on. the threat of three more bombings creates a ticking bomb effect, which ties everything together beautifully.
i'm actually getting chills as i type this. as much as i love a good sci-fi story (and believe me, the sci-fi in this one is good), i can't connect to a script unless i believe the characters. colter's fear, anger, yearning, and resignation are breathtakingly tangible. colter knows he can never be free -- he's either stuck in those 17 minutes on the train, unable to prevent the girl he might love from dying, or trapped in the pod surrounded by heartless scientists who won't give him answers. it's the worst kind of torture imaginable, and your heart aches for him as you start to understand how cruel the situation is.
the bomb mystery is relatively simple, but the question of what's happening to colter is what really drives the story. my only qualm with the script is i would have liked the writer to include a little more exposition about the rules of the world. is it set in the future? how does the timing work? how did they design this project? this is an early draft, though, so i'm sure those questions have been answered in the shooting script.
perhaps it's just the reader in me that loves this script so much. it reads incredibly well, but i can see why it took so long for a studio to greenlight it. most of the tension in the story stems from the colter's thoughts and emotions, which obviously won't translate as well on screen. still, i'm excited that the project has finally moved onto principle photography. for those who don't know, the film will star jake gyllenhaal as colter, michelle monaghan as christina, and vera farmiga as goodwin (i have no idea where that came from, but i'm intrigued). oh, and the best part? duncan jones is directing. as in, the duncan jones who directed moon, another brilliant sci-fi movie.
keep an eye out for this one, guys. if it's treated well, it could become a cult classic.