Repo Men
Directed by: Miguel Sapochnik
Cast: Jude Law, Forest Whittaker, Liev Schrieber, Alice Braga
Running Time: 2 hrs, 10 min
Rating: R
Release Date: March 19, 2010
PLOT: In a dystopic, futuristic society, high-tech organs are sold like new houses and new cars. When you're more than three months overdue on the impossibly high payments, the Repo Men show up in your house, taze you unconscious, and then repossess your organs. Remy (Jude Law) is the very best in the biz, but after an accident, he wakes up with a brand-spankin'-new artificial heart. His perspective on his job and the company he works for is thrown for a violent loop.
WHO'S IT FOR? Anyone who can stomach the violence will enjoy this movie. It's fun, fast sci-fi, with a great cast and unique storyline.
EXPECTATIONS: I can stomach the violence and I thought I'd probably get along with Repo Men just fine.
SCORECARD (0-10)
ACTORS:
Jude Law as Remy: Jude Law is the total package. He always has been and he always will be, and we all just need toaccept that and move on. He's gorgeous, he's talented, and he picks fun roles. With his frosty eyes, perfect face and English accent, you'd expect him to show up as the romantic lead in every other period piece, but he surprises you. And he is fantastic as Remy, through and through. It's possible he's been just itching to get his hands on an unconscious person and a scalpel, because he stepped right into that role with more than just enthusiasm--I'd say there are actually hints of joy in his performance, a la, "weee! I'm taking out a kidney and I'm digging every second of it!" Score: 9
Forest Whittaker as Jake: When you think of Mr. Whittaker, do you think: round, soft-spoken, and one slightly lazy eye? Or do you think: totally bad ass, arguably psychotic, and giddy at the thought of cutting someone's lungs out with only a butcher knife and his bare hands? Obviously, Whittaker has taken on darker roles, but he shows up a lot as the shy nice guy who is a little on the downtrodden side of the spectrum...until now. Whittaker looks good in kevlar. He looks good as he zaps helpless, fleeing, screaming people and then reclaims their organs. He's just tickled pink that he's tagging women and children as they run from him in terror. At times, like Law, you almost expect him to pause long enough, amidst all that mayhem, to jump up and click his heels together. Score: 9
Liev Schreiber as Frank: I got used to Liev in nicer roles, like colorful best friend, or bleeding-heart activist/freedom fighter, but he does "unctuous" well. He is just one endless oil slick of disingenuous, used-car salesman charm. At one point, Frank is "selling" a new organ to a potential client--a concerned-looking, middle classed man and his family--and he says that they can find a payment plan that works for him. And then he explains, smooth as butta, that if you fall behind in payments the company will shoulder the expense of reclaiming the organ and then says, "but that hardly ever happens." It's just so gross and wrong and evil and Schreiber is perfect for it. Score: 9
Alice Braga as Beth: Beth is one supremely awesome chick. She is wonderful. She's tough and she's smart, and she's had to take care of herself for a very long time. And Braga has a rough, haggard beauty that complements Law's inherent prettiness. Like her Aunt Sonia, Alice is utterly delicious to watch and to hear and she gets to play a character that isn't a giant baby. Even when it would be understandable for her to be a helpless infant, she isn't. Braga was an excellent casting choice alongside Law and Whittaker. Score: 9
TALKING: You gotta love it whenever a scifi movie opens with Jude Law narrating about his take on Shrodinger's cat. Does it sound a tad pretentious? I'm sure it does, but it isn't--it's just very, very cool. What I liked most about the dialogue between the main characters is that they said things that were not designed for dramatic effect but because that's how people talk to each other. Sure, you have some repetition like Remy and Jake are constantly bantering about whether or not "it's just a job," such as: "It's just a job." "IS it JUST a JOB?" "yeah, a Job's a job." "This is who you ARE, man!" But it's forgivable. Score: 8
SIGHTS: There were times when this was the slickest looking film I'd seen in a long time, but it's mixed in with some pretty familiar images. The camerawork is consistently unique and it's stylish as hell. It was like the cooler, more graceful and self-assured older brother of Wanted when it was great and then somewhat like an ugly stepchild of The Matrix when it started to lose steam. Score: 8
SOUNDS: The soundtrack was phenomenal with a delicious blend of jazz and alternative rock. Beck's Nausea was perfectly placed when Remy starts to lose his professional footing, and UNKLE's Burn My Shadow during the climactic fight was uber cool. Score: 9
PLOT SPOILERS
BEST SCENE: The final knife fight between Remy and about ten other Repo Men was totally kick ass.
ENDING:...? Um...I think a rule or two was just broken. Not like, a set-in-stone sort of rule, but one of my own personal rules about what constitutes something that's actually surprising versus a plotline cop-out.
QUESTIONS: I do have a very important, pressing question that I'd love to ask, but it would be a major betrayal to do so. At the very end of the movie, just remember that I did wonder about Jake's own financial capabilities and was that the point?
REWATCHABILITY: The first half, definitely, yes. The rest of it...unfortunately, no.
OVERALL
In terms of my enjoyment of the movie, I started out on a 10 and ended up on a 7. Obviously, it's still within the range of worth seeing, but it makes digesting it afterward a harder task than you'd think. Once Remy develops a conscience the movie starts to dither a bit and because it was going a thousand miles an hour just prior to that, you really feel it when it starts to lose momentum. And then you have the very ending, which is kind of a brick wall and I'm not sure if it's an effective one. Realistic? Yeah, okay, but it's a very jarring left turn when going right would've been more fluid.
There are no major flaws that you can point to and say, "and that's where it stopped being a 9 or a 10," because it isn't that obvious. It's more an accumulation of questionable decisions and then a peculiar switch in pacing that slowly drains all the energy out of Repo Men. It's still really worth seeing. I'm not trying to dog on it, when it's still great big fun, but they were SO close to thoroughly blowing my mind.
Go for the action and the cast and forgive the subtle sour notes. Repo Men is still a blast.
FINAL SCORE: 8/10