Customer Reviews

Repo Men

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

Being summarily clobbered by movie-goers and critics alike, REPO MEN will obviously not be for everyone. But it will be a great movie for the right person, and I was obviously one of those "right" people.

So who is this movie directed at and why? Well, it's a combination of a smart espionage thriller in a science fiction setting, with a little comedy thrown in for good measure. This might sound like a recipe for disaster, but it is anything but. But is it right for you? That's a tough call. If you're in the medical field and are concerned about healthcare insurance, it will definitely pique your interest. If you enjoyed such films as Kill Bill and Bringing Out the Dead, this will be right up your alley.

So why did I rate the film so high? Let's look at it for a minute...

It's topical without being "in your face." It never tells you to believe that private insurance carriers are "bad" and simply shows us a ridiculous possible future where organs are built in factories and everyone who needs a pancreas, a liver, an ear, or whatever, can get one ...for a price. The Union is run by an unscrupulous business man named Frank (Liev Schreiber, Defiance). He's basically a used car salesman trying to get you to sign on the dotted line for organs you desperately need. But make sure you don't miss any payments after you've gotten your new kidney. Why? Because if you don't pay the exorbitant prices and interest rates, your organ will be repossessed. Oh yes, even if it's your heart. How will you survive without it? You won't.

Remy (Jude Law, Closer) and Jake (Forest Whitaker, Where the Wild Things Are) are two of these Repo Men and they're very good at their jobs. With surgical precision, they can track and excise overdue organ owners with gory efficiency. But when Remy is forced to get a new heart and begins falling behind on payments, he begins to see the other side of his previous life.

This sounds like a pretty straightforward premise. A sort of Darth Vader understanding where his son was coming from plot. And that is only partially true. Jude Law does an excellent job playing a tough-guy with absolutely no conscious about ending a person's life if their delinquent on their bill. He is absolutely believable as a disconnected man only interested in money and being a great contract employee for The Union. This is seen early on when we witness him retrieving a liver in a rapid manner, making a beautiful incision and ripping the organ out. He heads to the previous owner's sink, rinses it off, packs it up, and heads out while stepping over the now probably lifeless man. Impressive. The gore is essential here to show the audience exactly HOW disconnected Remy is from humanity.

Jake, his partner, is even further gone than Remy. He enjoys his job so much that he's willing to do anything to anyone in order to ensure he and Remy can keep working together.

In the midst of Remy's life is a relationship that's falling apart and a son who is the only thing that keeps him remotely grounded. But when Remy suddenly needs a heart replacement, things rapidly change. You can see the wheels spinning in the back of his head after he returns to work. Would a Repo Man come after him if he failed to pay? What does it mean to have a piece of metal in his chest where his heart used to be? Does this make him less human? Or, in some bizarre way, does it make him more human? These are questions that are left up to the audience to decide.

The ending was telegraphed just enough to give it a fun twist without coming out of the blue. I kind of picked up on it after a significant fight sequence, and you might to if you pay attention. It is enough of an "a-ha!" moment that'll make some film watchers gasp.

With the current, raw, political climate I think this film was excellently timed to hit the big screen. Think about where our healthcare is going and who you want to control it, and this film will cut into you, too.

This is an excellent blu ray movie with excellent futuristic visuals set in an ultra modern metropolis. Based on a credit system, if you have an organ transplant, and have not payed your bill on time, instead of paying a late fee, a repo man is sent to repossess the organ while you are still alive! You either die on the spot, or if you have other means for a quick transplant, you better do it before it's too late! Imagine if that became your future, with black market donors being a refuge for those who can't afford it. This movie is insanely excellent with two men whose job is to rip your insides out for pay!

After having seen a couple of reviews before I bought this I was pleasantly surprised to find this film to be much more entertaining that expected. The ending was also a big plus in my opinion.

I found the movie entertaining at parts, but equally felt throughout the film that though the concept was great, the story was lacking. It's a great premise: a film about repossessing body parts when people can't pay, slick-talking salesmen that talk "customers" into payment plans that they can't afford with 20% interest because that's where the big money is! But you get all that within the first 15 minutes or so of the film, so I was concerned about what they were going to do with the rest of the story. I was even more concerned when they brought in the romantic relationship element to the story, nothing kills a good Sci Fi flick more than that! However, the ending.....

The movie reminded me of several other movies, including "Minority Report", "AI" (which Jude Law had a part in), and "Vanilla Sky." I don't want to give out a spoiler here for the ending, but I didn't see it coming, and I'm usually that guy that sees these types of twists coming! Although I did recognize the beach & palm tree as being a scene on one of the subway stops that they showed when he was talking with his son on the train, so I knew something was up. But I didn't expect that!

Many reviewers seem disappointed with the film, and I haven't seen Repo: The Genetic Opera that others say this movie is patterned after, so I can't comment on that. But I haven't even heard of that other film, and I doubt many others have either. So this movie seemed like new ground to me! There is a lot of gore in the film, but it didn't bother me at all. Those that have been through Med School or Biology labs will feel right at home! Though I thought most of the film was 3-stars, the surprise ending leaves me feeling it deserves 4-stars. Best twist ending I've seen since Vanilla Sky!

Final Grade: B

Like the unfortunate organ re-donors in this science-fiction thriller that have been rebuilt from borrowed parts, so too does Repo Men suffer the fate of being a movie built upon the foundations of many a science fiction cult classic.

This is all a truly tragic fate, considering the moments of sheer brilliance present in this all too familiar cautionary tale set amidst an all too familiar dystopian future. In 2025, top-dog Remy (Jude Law) has the thankless task of brutally repossessing the artificial organs for which their owners have defaulted payments on. He does so with surgical precision until that one day, when a fateful slice would open Remy's own heart to the plight of humanity.

With a plot largely transplanted from Fahrenheit 451 into the world of Repo: The Genetic Opera, cauterized with a sprinkling of Blade Runner and more than a few stitches of Brazil, Repo Man may have become in itself a cautionary tale against a clockwork picture. Also starring Forest Whitaker and Alice Braga, Repo Men is an unapologetically gory affair, fast paced and frenetic, yet suffering from uneven heavy-handedness.

While newcomer Miguel Sapochnik excels at juggling the dramatic with the sterile action set pieces with the deft hands of an early Steven Spielberg or John Carpenter, the picture ultimately suffers in his inability to skillfully suture together those crucial visual clues, thus telegraphing the ending well in advance to anyone paying attention, though having a `borrowed' ending once again does not help matters much either.

Yet in spite of this, the picture remains an enjoyable, if not déjà vu invoking thrill ride. One cannot help but root for the protagonist and empathize with the surprisingly layered, if not clichéd, antagonists. Though it may lack the explosive intensity of a Michael Bay film for example, the intimate storytelling places attention not so much on the action, but rather on the situations, allowing audiences to better connect with this character driven piece than the more visually oriented science fiction action films.

As such, it should be unsurprising that the cast is mainly comprised of dramatic heavy-hitters that outperform the picture. It is a bold and unusual move, and certainly strange to see not one action marquee name among the cast, with the possible exception of Liev Schreiber. And projecting a more tortured soul than the genre would normally call for, Jude Law, who only recently joined the action scene with his debut in Sherlock Holmes, joins the cast in elevating Repo Men to a clockwork movie actually worth winding.

If only it had been more original, perhaps Repo Men would have become a classic in its own right. However, for a flawed experiment, it still remains one hell of an enjoyable ride.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we were able to replace vital organs as needed with no complications? Who wouldn't want to be able to see better, hear farther, live longer, ease the burden of things like Alzheimer's from our loved ones? But nothing comes free, right? In today's consumer-driven society, people generally appear to have great difficult grasping the difference between "necessity" and "desire". However, you better be very clear in your own mind about what both of those things mean to you, as well as possessing a definitive understanding of exactly what you are willing to pay to fulfill either. You better be able to pay in full too, or at the very least, keep up your payments faithfully. Because in this subtly dystopian future, The Union will send repo men to reclaim their products if you don't!


Remy (Jude Law) and his best friend Jake (Forest Whitaker) were soldiers once. Perhaps that made it too easy for them to make the transition into the private sector as repossession agents for The Union. Repo men once recognized by the general public, are most definitely viewed with a fearful respect that is anything but flattering. In fact, this biased view of a jaded society is not only causing Remy to doubt his career choice, it is seriously upsetting the happy apple cart of his marriage.

Still, repossessing the mechanical hearts, livers, eyes, and other essential bits manufactured and sold at exorbitant rates to a mostly willing public is better than trying to finesse a reluctant customer into signing the purchasing contract, isn't it? Those salesmen like Frank (Liev Schreiber), seem like heartless soulless demons devoted to the almighty dollar in comparison. From Remy's point of view, the people who sign those contracts are well aware of what they are getting into, and if they choose to break the law by not paying what is owed in a timely fashion, then surely it is his noble duty to enforce the law by reclaiming the company's property.

He can't understand why his job causes his wife such anxiety or inexplicable anger, or his son discomfort at school and disturbing dreams at night. It's just a job, right? Remy loves his family, but discovers that love isn't always enough to fix what's broken. Now that it's his name on the dotted line, will Remy get his priorities straight before a repo man shows up at his door?

Directed by Miguel Sapochnik, and written by Eric Garcia and Garret Lerner, this film provokes thought, and is complex enough to support multiple viewings. At a run time of 111 minutes, it can feel like it takes it's time getting to the point though, and some viewers will certainly feel as if "the point" becomes meaningless or over-developed as we watch the characters Remy and Jake take form. Perhaps the balance works better in the written work, Repossession Mambo (2009), also written by Eric Garcia, but I have yet to read it for comparison.



If you don't read the subtle clues along the way correctly, the film's plot twist at the end is a good one, sure to dazzle some and disappoint others. The fight scenes were quite well done and entertaining, if not terribly important to the story. Potentially humorous moments fall rather flat as these are not characters given easily to humor or an easy compatibility with their fellow man. Rated for mature audiences due to scenes of a graphic nature, sexual content, language, and violence, Repo Men's overall look is rather slick and edgy.

Ultimately I was entertained, but felt that the overall presentation lacks a few vital elements to really give soul to this work. The focus is so strongly riveted to the dissociative in society, and the tale itself rather choppily delivered, that I feel audiences might have difficulty associating with main characters or really caring about how the story will end. Repo Men is a subtly horrific sci-fi drama made more complete with thoughtful imput from the viewer.



This film displays the potentially bleak existence possible in a society driven by commercialism, trendy surgical upgrades, and unreasoning desire. This is not a happy tale, nor will love, unrequited or otherwise, conquer all. This is an unlikely romance between a man and the dream of what his life could become; a rather Gothic reminder that only death and taxes are true certainties in life, and all too often our greatest dreams become our worst nightmares.



Final Thoughts:

Thought provoking, interesting tale, good cast, great effects and fight scenes.

Potentially disorienting, depressing or off-putting to viewers.

Entertaining, but does not sucessfully fulfill its potential

This is not going to be so much of a review of the movie plot or characters (although I did like the movie- maybe 3.5 or 4 stars out of 5), this is a comparison of the "Theatrical Release" vs. the "Unrated" version.

In short, there is so little difference that there really is no reason to pay extra for the "unrated" version. A couple of slight dialouge additions. There is a scene with John Leguizamo that makes a couple of things more clear (really minor and it does not "flow well" into the following scene). If you are buying it with the hope of seeing more skin or more gore, you will be greatly disappointed.

We're 50+ and we thought this was about repo-ing cars.....
I popped it in and we sat to watch it while we had dinner.
oh boy- oh boy- oh boy!
So it was a bit of a shock at the beginning when it turned out to be something more. Hey, I was on a bit of a spending spree for DVD movies looking to stack up some entertainment for our evenings and snagged this one.

How many of you reading this that have seen the movie are laughing your butts off right now? more than a few I'd say....

Lucky for us, we rolled with it and at the end decided we liked it.
If you're a Scifi fan and you don't mind some gore and appreciate a little moral quandary in your entertainment, my guess is you'll like it.

We've gotten to the point where we WANT something different, something out of the ordinary. Just one thing....this is NOT about two guys going after cars that haven't been paid for. It's not Tokyo Shock which we like on occasion....
but we definitely were surprised.

I saw it had a wide variety of ratings and thought...ok it'll probably be something different. It is NOT a trip to Mamby Pamby Land or for those for whom the color yellow makes them sad. There's even one scene you'll probably back up and play a couple times while you laugh with tears rolling down your face.
"Don't Taze Me Bro!!!"

Everyone else has covered just about everything else in their reviews.
It was good entertainment for an evening as an inexpensive used movie.
'nuff said.

I watched the unrated version.

A job is a job.
How these 2 did the job without breaking out laughing is beyond me!

cutting open people martial arts combat
Nobody ever asked for a bandaid.
LOL

There wasn't an explanation for the abandoned city. I might have to watch again.
I watched it again.
There was no real explanation of what led to the downfall, just narrative.
Excellent writing BTW

But ...
Pay attention to the one-liners zinging throughout the movie ... ROFLMAO!!!

It was well written.
The actors used their props well.

You know how you think you saw something during a movie.
Be sure & watch the extras, especially the ads. You'll know what I mean.

Way better than Babylon AD ( AD = After Dump )

Afterthought, this movie is as good as Blade Runner. Food 4 thought ...

I've not seen Repo Genetic Opera, so I have nothing to compare this movie to. It's a solid film in its own right, though it could have been a bit tighter. After seeing this, I want to see the Genetic Opera flick so I can compare this. The ending was a surprise, and I'm not sure if I enjoyed it or not. Overall it's not a bad flick.