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Groundhog Day meets the legendary Quantum Leap in Jake Gyllenhaal's exciting new sci-fi thriller. Gyllenhaal is a time-lost amnesiac on a mission to uncover the terrorist behind a massive train explosion by reliving the last eight minutes of one of the dead passengers.

Through a mixture of computer simulation and baffling physics he can somehow explore the past without changing the outcome, while the clock counts down to a second attack which threatens to destroy Chicago.

Of course it's nonsense, but how it's happening isn't really important. Jones wisely focuses on characters and an urgent situation that's easy to grasp: find the mad bomber before it's too late. Gyllenhaal is a likeable action hero and we come to care about Michelle Monaghan as a doomed passenger who tries to help.

If you can swallow the premise, there's a lot of fun to be had in this satisfying summer hit which surpasses the technobabble and becomes a fast and efficient thriller. [Scotty McKellar]