I went to see Repo Men on opening day with my 20 year old son. We both had the exact same reaction when we walked out of the theater; “such a great concept, what a bummer it didn’t work”. It has all the trappings of a good sci-fi movie: dystopian setting, a comedic tone, the big bad corporation terrorizing the public. But this adaptation of Eric Garcia’s novel, “Repossession Mambo”, is messy and disjointed. It never develops this very nifty idea into anything more than a sci-fi equivalent of a dirty movie. In-other-words, you’ve seen it all before. Remy (played by the forever gorgeous - Jude Law) and Jake (Forest Whitaker) are “repo men” for “The Union"; a company that supplies the sick and dying with artificial organs, "artiforgs,", only to come and surgically reclaim them if you can’t make your payments (a new liver will run you about $750,000.00). Their version of Miranda Rights: “You have the right to an ambulance”. Funny. And I think there is a political message here: There must be a public option! Liev Schreiber does a great job as Frank, the ruthless head of the company. It is directed by Miguel Sapochnik (he’s British by the way). It is his first full length feature film and it shows. It is big and bold but it’s sloppy and lacks heart. Surprising because Sapochnik is responsible for the very clever and engrossing, The Dreamer; a fifteen minute short/thriller about a military clone who is heading for execution and escapes. It’s an inspiring and intelligent look at human emotion. It works because we care deeply about this clone. It’s amazing what can be accomplished in fifteen minutes. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the 111 minute, Repo Men. Carice van Houten is interesting as Remy’s wife Carol, who is fed up with her husband’s barbaric line of work. Alice Braga (I Am Legend) steps in to take her place. Loaded with mechanical transplants, freeing her from the “reclaim system” provides one of the more noteworthy scenes in the movie. If you're a big Jude Law fan, see it when it comes out On Demand. If you’re not, skip it. You won’t be missing much.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Movie Review: Repo Men
I went to see Repo Men on opening day with my 20 year old son. We both had the exact same reaction when we walked out of the theater; “such a great concept, what a bummer it didn’t work”. It has all the trappings of a good sci-fi movie: dystopian setting, a comedic tone, the big bad corporation terrorizing the public. But this adaptation of Eric Garcia’s novel, “Repossession Mambo”, is messy and disjointed. It never develops this very nifty idea into anything more than a sci-fi equivalent of a dirty movie. In-other-words, you’ve seen it all before. Remy (played by the forever gorgeous - Jude Law) and Jake (Forest Whitaker) are “repo men” for “The Union"; a company that supplies the sick and dying with artificial organs, "artiforgs,", only to come and surgically reclaim them if you can’t make your payments (a new liver will run you about $750,000.00). Their version of Miranda Rights: “You have the right to an ambulance”. Funny. And I think there is a political message here: There must be a public option! Liev Schreiber does a great job as Frank, the ruthless head of the company. It is directed by Miguel Sapochnik (he’s British by the way). It is his first full length feature film and it shows. It is big and bold but it’s sloppy and lacks heart. Surprising because Sapochnik is responsible for the very clever and engrossing, The Dreamer; a fifteen minute short/thriller about a military clone who is heading for execution and escapes. It’s an inspiring and intelligent look at human emotion. It works because we care deeply about this clone. It’s amazing what can be accomplished in fifteen minutes. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the 111 minute, Repo Men. Carice van Houten is interesting as Remy’s wife Carol, who is fed up with her husband’s barbaric line of work. Alice Braga (I Am Legend) steps in to take her place. Loaded with mechanical transplants, freeing her from the “reclaim system” provides one of the more noteworthy scenes in the movie. If you're a big Jude Law fan, see it when it comes out On Demand. If you’re not, skip it. You won’t be missing much.
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Cory- I love how you get out to the movies...inspiring, love, leslie
ReplyDeleteThanks Leslie. C u in June!! xox
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