REPO MEN is good sci-fi at a price that fits your lifestyle

Rating:

John Q would not have held up a hospital if he lived in the world of Repo Men. His son would have received a shiny $975,000 artificial heart without any hassles. But if John failed to keep up with payments, they'd take it right back. In Repo Men, healthcare is a for-profit business with no regulation. Caring and curing are luxuries offered at a 19% fixed interest rate, and come with a rather unforgiving return policy.

The Union--a mega-corporation that manufactures and sells organs--does not force anyone to buy a $675,000 liver. Patients leave the doctor's office and straight to a sales desk where they're briefed on the payment plans available to them. Everyone has the option to stay on the long organ donor waiting lists and die a slow, painful death. Most choose to live. Unfortunately, few are able to afford their new lease on life. Business is business and, like a credit card company, The Union makes more money on those who fail to pay off their new organs.

That's when Remy (Jude Law) and Jake (Forest Whitaker) get to work. They are The Union's repo men. Equipped with bulletproof vests, nonlethal dart guns, surgical knives, and some kind of neat epoxy that glues skin back together real nice, they break in to homes and reclaim The Union's property. This process is best compared to a bank foreclosing on someone's house, with more blood. Delinquents are given the option of a hospital stay, but what's the point? The hospital won't give them a new organ now that they have bad credit. Most repos take place at night with a shock and then a slice.

Remy and Jake are damn good at their job. They've been friends for years. They've fought in war together. Now they harvest overdue organs together. On one raid, they reclaim more than thirty of the metal buggers. Neither of these men appears remorseful. A job's a job, after all. 

When Remy has an accident and has to get an artificial Jarvik heart himself, his outlook changes quite dramatically. There's nothing like an overdue bill for $975,000 to get the brain thinking. This, of course, sets up a plot that pits Remy against his own best friend and former employer. Nothing revolutionary here, but it's done well.

Repo Men is based on The Repossession Mambo, a novel by Eric Garcia, who also co-wrote the screenplay along with House writer Garrett Lerner. It is a better movie than many critics claim. At times, it is absurdly gory and oddly comedic. The story also doesn't do away with Hollywood action movie conventions (did you really think it would?). Repo Men is a good time and competent film, regardless. It will not win over everyone, but as science fiction, it will be remembered.

Liev Schreiber and Forest Whitaker put on great performances, as does most of the cast, who pull humor into the Repo world. The music, composed by Marco Beltrami (who was recently nominated for his work on The Hurt Locker), registers somewhere between Requiem for a Dream and The Dark Knight, switching from haunting to ridiculous with ease, complimenting the intentionally unintentional comedic moments throughout the film.

Repo Men is a gross movie that claims to be nothing it isn't. It's a Hollywood sci-fi epic that involves a little thinking and a lot of action. I enjoyed it. For that, I can provide it a rating that keeps it happy...as long as someone foots the bill.