Repo Men

Over the weekend, between packing and more packing, I decided I needed to up the geek quotient a bit and also get out of the house. So I went to see the new movie "Repo Men." Not to be confused with 1984's "Repo Man" (starring Harry Dean Stanton and Emilio Estevez), Repo Men stars Jude Law, Forest Whitaker and Liev Schrieber. Seemed to be timely, given the vote on healthcare reform this weekend (yeah, because I totally planned that).

I liked the concept of the movie, a dystopian future where our health is improved by advances in science that create artificial organs for most every body part. But they cost a pretty penny, and if you can't pay the bill (and at 19% interest, who can?) expect to see the Repo Men at your door coming to collect their goods.

I really appreciated some of the catchy tag lines:

• Go Ahead. Have The Cheeseburger.
• We Encourage You To Drink Irresponsibly.
• Bad Heart? Bad Liver? Bad Credit? No Problem!!!

I wanted to like this movie, but something fell flat for me. And in reading other's reviews I see that I wasn't the only one who had trouble with the story (to put it mildly!). The movie is gory and violent to the point of ridiculous. Other than the friendship between repo men Remy (Law) and Jake (Whitaker), the relationships between characters seemed forced and awkward. And the story resolution is a bit too predictable and thus, disappointing. (I don't want to give it away, as I know some people hate spoilers.)

I've also read comments doubting Jude Law's ability to be an action star; I thought he was "meh" in this mode, but not my favorite. Liev Schrieber has a great supporting role as a company salesman though, playing on potential client's darkest fears and encouraging them to sign the dotted line and "Do it for yourself. Do it for your family."

The movie reminded me of some older sci fi movies, but I'm having trouble remembering which ones. Total Recall? eXistenz? Both of those deal with virtual reality, so it's not quite right, but the dark side of science & technology is consistent in this movie too.

Anyway, I'd give it a B-/ C or a 6 out of 10 (did I come up with a rating system yet? I can't remember now...) depending on which kind of scale you prefer. I'd suggest waiting on this one til available on Netflix, or even on Syfy at some point in a couple years.

I'm including a couple of the posters - I liked those. Good marketing, people! Sorry the film wasn't better.