Repo Men (2010)

Directed by: Miguel Sapochnik | 111 minutes | action, thriller, science fiction | Actors: Jude Law, Forest Whitaker, Liev Schreiber, Alice Braga, Carice van Houten, Liza Lapira, Yvette Nicole Brown, RZA, Chandler Canterbury, Bashar Rahal, Tanya Clarke, Lina So, Ashleigh Hubbard, Joe Pingue, Erin Lokitz, Jessica Rimmer , Tiffany Espensen

In times of credit crisis, financial problems are a daily occurrence for many. Problems you shouldn’t have in ‘Repo Men’ anyway…

It is 2025 and The Union is a manufacturer of high-tech mechanical organs. People can extend or improve their lives, but at a very high cost. Six tons for a little liver or kidney is very common, but ‘luckily’ this can be purchased on installment. Most people have no choice; it’s either die or go into debt. “Eventually everyone gives in,” said Union CEO Frank (Liev Schreiber).

If you do not pay your bills on time, the price will be much higher. The Union sends a so-called ‘repo man’ to you without compassion to shoot a tranquilizer arrow in your thunder, then cut you open and take your organ back to the factory. Remy (Jude Law) is one such repo guy, as is his buddy Jake (Forest Whitaker). When he dies during a routine job, he soon finds himself in a hospital. Equipped with the latest model artificial heart…

To be able to pay off his debt, Remy has to get back to work as a repo, but where he used to do his jobs without batting an eyelid, he now breaks into a sweat on all sides. He can’t take it anymore… The former fighter of The Union has now become prey and Jake of all people is sent after him….

If the interesting premise of this film sounds familiar to you, you may be right. It bears many similarities to that of the horror musical ‘Repo! The Genetic Opera’ (2008). Rumor has it that the script of the latter film was offered to Universal, who declined it because they saw nothing in the singing. However, they found the premise interesting and eventually screenwriter Eric Garcia wrote a book about it – ‘Repossession Mambo’ – which led to this film.

So no singing, but a lot of action and blood. Blood in a surgical context that is. Anyone who becomes ill from medical procedures should buy a ticket for another movie. Cut-open bodies pass by here a lot, sometimes to the point of gore. The action is brutal, violent and crude, but looks spectacularly good. To keep all this a bit light-hearted, the makers deliberately use music that is very comical and doesn’t really ‘match’ at all with what you see. Kind of like in the ‘Kill Bill’ movies. Songs like ‘Sway’ or ‘Feeling good’ indicate here how Remy and Jake experience their work: “a job is a job”.

This comic slant is necessary to not let it get too serious, because the story is totally unbelievable. The script has a number of big question marks that do not lead to a satisfactory result with logical thinking. What is satisfying is the playing of Jude Law and Forest Whitaker, who both have something chilly and sympathetic about them. Just the right characteristics for these roles. Liev Schreiber as the extremely scary CEO of The Union is also perfectly cast. Carice van Houten – yes, she’s in it – plays Remy’s wife in ‘Repo Men’. A not too big role, in which she tries to show as much as possible. It makes her look a bit too pathetic unfortunately.

‘Repo Men’ sometimes flies from left to right and everywhere, but in the end it has become a very solid and beautiful, darkly filmed product. You have to love the sadistic humor between Remy and Jake, but the extremely surprising ending (unfortunately with the necessary question marks) will certainly make everyone happy!