Repo Men

Home
Smell the Movies
Smell the TV

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Year:	2010
Country of origin:	Canada / USA
Director:	Miguel Sapochnik
Genre:	Sci-fi gristle
Starring:	Jude Law, Forest Whitaker
Rating:	4/5
IMDB link:	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1053424/
Tagline:	For a price, any organ in your body can be replaced. But it can also be repossessed
Favourite line:	"Welcome to your world, Repo Man."

Sick and twisted sci-fi thriller, just like Grandma used to make.

Jude Law plays Remy, a Repo Man, employed by The Union to repossess their property. Thing is, the property in question just happens to be human internal organs, the reclamation order submitted due to failure of the owner to keep up their monthly payments.
On a recovery mission, Remy has an accident as a piece of equipment malfunctions and, when he wakes up in hospital, he discovers he has himself been fitted with a Union heart.
He's not amused and, vowing not to pay, waits for The Union to come for their property.

Law is effective enough in the lead role and, whilst Forrest Whittaker is certainly a fine actor and plays the part of Remy's partner perfectly adequately, there's something about him I just don't get along with. I think it has to do with the fact he plays so many worthy roles in worthy movies about worthy subjects.
Makes my fucking skin crawl.
Whilst many of the reviews I've read make a point of stressing the gore levels in the movie, I found myself a little underwhelmed by the splatter factor, expecting it to be much more blood thirsty than it was. True, there are plenty of parabolic blood splash moments with throat slittings, stabbings, eye gouges and, of course, vividly depicted organ removal, but it wasn't the blood-drenched nightmare I was hoping for.
I dunno, maybe my threshold for viscera is higher than most.
Visually this is rather interesting, too. Whilst the city exteriors owe the usual debt to Blade Runner, the interiors are squalid and grimy, not all polished white gleam as we expect from sci-fi, giving the movie quite an organic feel at times.
Only one negative aspect to report, that being the woeful choice of music throughout. Listen up, unless you are Tarantino or Scorcese, in the name of all that is deformed don't try to use REAL songs as incidental music, pay some schlub to write a proper score. Here, the choice of songs is so painful it became off-putting at times, which is a shame as all other elements worked well.
Whilst hardly likely to win movie of the year - or movie of the fortnight, for that matter - this was nevertheless an entertaining way to spend nigh on two hours.
Check it out.