We all know the drill — if you can’t make the monthly payments on your car, the bank takes your car back. Can’t make the payment on your house, the bank takes your house back. So, when you can’t make the payments on your new heart, it’s only natural that the Union takes it back.
In a near-future reality where artificial organs are the norm, Remy (Jude Law) works for the Union (think George Orwell’s Big Brother meets George Lucas’ Empire) reclaiming organs whose owners are late in paying. For Remy and his slightly manic best-friend-cum-sidekick Jake (Forest Whitaker), repossession is a game — until an accident with a botched defibrillator leaves Remy dependent on an artificial heart himself. Apparently, with the mechanical heart comes a conscience, as all of a sudden Remy begins to realize the people he rips to shreds for a living are people with wives and kids, just like him. As he becomes incapable of going through with repo jobs, he falls behind on the payments for his heart. All of a sudden (and rather predictably) hunter becomes hunted.
A job is who you are, Remy remarks rather sagely. If you want to change who you are, you change what you do. In Remy’s case, this means going from a cold-blooded killer to a cold-blooded killer determined to take down the system (with a beautiful girl by his side, of course). The irony is rife. In fact, the more you think about the quasi-philosophical statements in the movie, the more you see them contradicted.
Despite those contradictions, though, it’s definitely an entertaining watch. There is a fair smattering of dark humor throughout — including a 9-year-old surgeon, a few off-handed remarks in sarky British accents and scenes that are so bizarre you just have to laugh — and enough action and gore to satisfy even the most blood-thirsty movie goers. Miguel Sapochink, who is making his directorial debut with this movie, definitely didn’t spare a thought for those of us with delicate stomaches. The characters are fairly stock, but well acted and therefore believable: the compromised anti-hero, the traitorous-but-in-the-end-loyal best friend, the wife that wants you to change and mistress addicted to a particularly powerful drug (called Q) — all are part and parcel of this kind of story. There’s also a plot-twist to rival all plot-twists, which was entertaining — if perhaps unnecessary.
Repo Men is dramatic in more than just its tricksy plot and copious gore, though. One quick Google search is enough to crack open a whole can of wriggling accusations. Not only was there a 1984 movie called Repo Man (though this guy repos cars, not livers), but in 2008 a movie called Repo! The Genetic Opera was released. Consider the similarities: in a dystopic, futuristic city-world, Geneco are the inescapable tyrants who sell you body organs at prices you can’t possibly afford. The operations are painful so you take Z — a neon-green, highly addictive painkiller — to be able to function properly. The Z is so expensive you fall behind on your payments … and then the Repo men come.
Fans of Repo! (and the creators as well) have been quick to accuse the writers and producers of Repo Men of stealing its storyline. Supporters of the newer movie have said that as the two were being produced at the same time, it was a coincidence. However, Repo! began as a 10-minute opera in 1996 that quickly gathered cult followers. By 2002 it was a hollywood stage show, and in 2005 the stage show hit New York. In 2008, writers Darren Smith and Terrance Zdunich and director Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw III-V) had turned it into a movie. Repo Men, on the other hand, is based on a novel by Eric Garcia, called The Repossession Mambo, which was published in 2009.
Repo! fans have been quick to take up the offense, and the similarities are actually pretty striking. If you’ve watched both you’ll quickly see the parallels — and sadly they aren’t just limited to the plots. If you haven’t had the pleasure, head over to IMDB and someone will gladly shout them at you.
In the end, though, the debate is probably pointless. For those among us who are more inclined toward Rocky Horror-esque songs, antics and debauchery, Repo! is probably more your cup of tea. For those who prefer a good, gory story with lots of fights (one included Remy wielding a gun, knife, axe, saw and hammer in quick succession) and a decent plot twist that actually had the people behind me gasping — or who just want to see Jude Law with his shirt off more often than is necessary — Repo Men is definitely worth a watch. Just don’t be fooled by it’s philosophical opening: beyond the thrilling plot and the intense action, there’s not much more to this movie than blood and guts.
2.5 Stars
Directed By: Miguel Sapochnik
Starring: Jude Law, Forest Whitaker, Liev Schreiber
Rated R, 111 min.
