Repo Men: Possessing the box office
Kyle Stephans
Staff Writer
The previews for “Repo Men” have given many people a bad impression of the film: a stupid premise in a future where if someone cannot make the payments on their artificial organs, the company sends men to hunt them down and repossesses the organs by literally ripping them out of the body. It is true that the movie has a stupid concept, but it is also interesting, raises some important questions and is definitely original.
Be assured, this is a completely different movie than the 1984 film of the same name, starring Harry Dean Stanton and Emilio Estevez.
“Repo Men” is set in 2025 in Toronto, Canada, where the health care provider, called The Union, creates artificial organs that help a person live a normal life, rather than waiting for a transplant or death.
This comes with a price, a very high one at that. The payment and interest is to be made over time. If the owner fails to make the payment in time, they lose the organ when the repo-men, who work for The Union, kill them to retrieve it.
We are introduced to the two main characters in the film, Remy played by Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes), and Academy Award-winner Forest Whitaker as Remy’s best friend and partner Jake.
Remy loves his job at The Union. He is the best repo-man the company has. This has strained his relationship with his wife and son. She wants him to quit and go into a sales position at The Union so she will be able to see him more often, while Remy is unsure about it.
On one of his assignments a defibrillator malfunctions, giving Remy a heart attack. He is now forced to use The Union’s artificial heart and his wife leaves him, taking their son with her. Remy can no longer properly perform his job, since he now thinks of his “assignments” as murdering human beings. He tries to become a salesman for the company, but ultimately fails.
Unable to make money from his job and pay for his organ, Remy flees the city and along the way encounters various people.
Specifically, he meets a new love interest named Beth (Alice Braga), a former lounge singer with multiple artificial organs. As repo men are sent after him, he is more than ready to defend himself and is bent on bringing down The Union, even if it means sacrificing his strong friendship with Jake.
The movie was actually better than expected. It can be seen as an allegory for the health care system, as well as what a human life is worth. The Union is portrayed as a greedy corporation, a portrayal many people can relate to.
Forest Whitaker pulls off an effective performance as Jake, the crazy, thrill-seeking partner/friend of Remy. Jude Law also puts in a good effort playing Remy and helping viewers understand his life. Liev Schreiber (X Men Origins: Wolverine) plays Frank, the sly and ruthless chief of The Union who has the use car salesman, “You owe it to yourself and you owe it to your family to get this organ,” type of personality that makes his character completely believable and hated.
Although the movie is action-packed and fun, that does not always guarantee a good film (perfect example: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen). The film has a good story, but Remy seems like a complete moron for not understanding earlier in the film that when he does his job, he is actually killing people, but by the end we are rooting for him.
It also looked pretty weird when he cut open a body with a scalpel, then held the blood-soaked knife in his mouth to put gloves on to dig for the artificial organ.
The other problem with the film is it’s so unrealistic how Jude Law as Remy can easily take down 16 armed repo agents, with only a butcher knife in hand. The blood and gore is over glorified and features about as much as a “Saw” film.
The final flaw of the film may be the movie’s twist conclusion, which some may love while others may hate. “Repo Men” is not believable or realistic in the least bit, but it is a thrilling move that raises interesting questions.
Grade: B-
