SOURCE CODE and YOUR HIGHNESS Movie Reviews [Philosophical Monday]

YOUR HIGHNESS

Other than the blatant sexism, woman-based ageism, Danny McBride’s general mien and delivery, rape jokes (hilarious!), and the ridiculous amounts of gay jokes (attn: straight male comedians – this meme is way past it’s due date, please start coming up with fresh material already), YOUR HIGHNESS was … okay. But James Franco and Natalie Portman were both really good in this, and there were a few chuckles, so it’s not a complete thumbs down.

Anti-Paul Report

Were There any People of Color In It? Yes. One black guy and a couple of Asian guys.

Did Any of Them Have Speaking Parts? Yes … I think so. I can’t remember what any of them said, but I’m fairly sure that they spoke.

How Many of Them Were From THE WIRE? Zero

Were Any of Them Were Bad Guys? Sadly, every person of color with a speaking part was. However, there were a few cheering peasants in the background, who seemed perfectly nice.

SOURCE CODE

What’s It About? A soldier is sent back in time in 8-minute intervals to discover the identity of the terrorist who blew up a Chicago-bound metro train.

What Makes It Different: We only get tales like GROUNDHOG’S DAY once or twice a decade.

4 Things that I Loved:

1. Instant adrenaline. The story begins with the soldier waking up on a metroliner with no memory. He then has to figure out what’s going on from there, finally piecing the story together with the little bits of information he’s been given. As a result we as the audience are invested from minute one. This isn’t the kind of movie that you pause. Once you start watching it, you’re in.

2. The structure. I’m a sucker for a repeating storyline, and I particularly love a story with several do-overs.

3. The moral lesson. Though ostensibly a sci-fi adventure, the overall moral conclusion of SOURCE CODE turns out to be the similar to one made famous by a popular old play, which is still performed at high schools and community theaters all around the world. I went into the movie in a terrible mood and left in a wonderful one.

4. The meta physics. Though, I’m sure this aspect would drive any real scientist crazy, I love the final meta idea put forth in this movie.

What I Didn’t Like: I didn’t quite realize that Jake Gyllenhaal’s not much of an actor until seeing this movie. Luckily it didn’t matter. Also, a female character makes a decision that so goes against the larger good, that I found it hard to believe that her character as written would do this for any reason other than accomplishing a major plot point.

Anti-Paul Report

Were There any People of Color In It? Yes! Several!

Did Any of Them Have Speaking Parts? Yes!

How Many of Them Were From THE WIRE? Zero

Were Any of Them Soldiers? Shockingly, no. In fact Jeffrey Wright’s (fantastically-acted) character was a brilliant scientist. And there was a great scene that actually managed to make racial profiling seem a little funny. Good job!