Movie review: ‘Repo Men’

By Kristen Karas

Some films make you want your money back.

Then there are movies that are so ridiculously bad you somehow find yourself entertained by the awfulness — you laugh out loud at its most serious parts and talk about its inconsistencies and ridiculousness for hours after it’s over.

That’s the kind of movie that Jude Law finds himself in in “Repo Men,” a schlocky gorefest that takes itself way too seriously to act as the fun, action-packed satire it could have been.

Set in the future in what possibly could be New York, Remy (Law) and best friend Jake (Forest Whitaker) act as repossession men for “the Union,” which produces expensive fake organs that can be purchased on credit. When payments lag, the repo men come in to take back company property, cutting open clients on the floors of their homes. But after an accident lands Remy with a Union heart, he finds himself on the run.

While the dialogue is a little silly, the first 20 minutes or so are actually quite interesting. While you know you aren’t heading for a masterpiece, it still feels like it could be entertaining.

But by the middle half, the film begins to sag. Law’s character struggles with leaving his job at his wife’s request. Remy’s turnaround after the accident would have been more compelling if he had been a sadistic, single guy who loved his job before, not on the verge of divorce with doubts about the job’s morality. Likewise, while his wife is presented as a bit of a shrew, his willingness to run off from his family with a creepy woman he just met (Alice Braga) will leave you feeling cold.

The movie’s plot starts to fall apart at the seams by the middle. While the film could have served as a cool, cautionary tale about the “what-ifs” of capitalist health care, there are too many “that could never happen” moments.

So what about the gore? The first third of the movie has enough predictable slice-open scenes and choreographed fighting to satisfy those into that kind of thing, while the middle is pretty light.

But the final third … oh, the final third. The film’s climax is one of the grossest, most uncomfortable things you’ll see at the movies in a while outside of the horror genre. It’s grade-A torture porn, and you’ll have to uncomfortably laugh while half-covering your eyes to get through it.

The only bright spot of the film is Law, who is well-cast and fun to watch. He’s believable, and that’s more than can be said for the disappointing Whitaker, an Oscar-winner who should have known better.

Grade: D

Read more here: http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2010/03/28/repo_men.aspx
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