Repo Man

I put this eighties cult classic right up there with Blazing Saddles (1974) and Dr. Strangelove (1964) as one of the best satires ever to hit the silver screen. No exaggeration: this is one bizarre and one very funny flick. Seeing it again after almost twenty years, I gotta say, it lost nothing.

Emilio Estevez stars as Otto Maddox, a head-strong and slightly naive ex-supermarket stock clerk and sometime punk rocker. He's kicking a can down the street when up pulls Bud, "a repo man," played with a fine degeneracy by Harry Dean Stanton, who asks him if he wants to make ten bucks. (Otto's reply is memorable but not printable here.) When he learns that Bud just wants him to drive a car and not...uh, never mind, he bargains it to twenty-five bucks. When he finds out that Bud repossesses cars for the "Helping Hand Acceptance Corporation," he is sorely offended. But when he realizes how intense the life is (and how bleak his other employment opportunities), he becomes a repo man himself.

Meanwhile there's J. Frank Parnell (Fox Harris wearing a demonic grin and weird black and empty frame glasses) driving a "hot" '64 Chevy Malibu. "You don't want to look in the trunk, Officer," he tells a cop who pulls him over on a desert highway. By the way, the map under the opening credits shows the action of this film beginning somewhere on old Route 66 in New Mexico, suggesting alien mecca Roswell territory perhaps, but most of scenes were clearly shot in LA, and the desert scene just mentioned was also probably shot in California as evidenced by the Joshua Trees in the background.

What director and scriptster Alex Cox does is combine urban ghetto realism with bizarro sci-fi shtick. He adds a fine punk soundtrack including the title song from Iggy Pop with a brief appearance by the Circle Jerks, and wow are they appropriate, but you have be a punker or a 15-year-old to really visualize their moniker. The supporting players, Sy Richardson as Lite, a black cat repo ace, and Tracey Walter as Miller, a demented street philosopher, really stand out. I also liked the black girl repo person with attitude (Vonetta McGee).

The real strength of the movie, aside from probably the best performance of Estevez's career, is in the street scene hijinks, the funny and raunchy dialogue, and all those sight gags. My favorite scene has Otto coming home to find his parents smoking weed on the couch zombie-like in front of the TV listening to a Christian evangelist while he scarfs down "Food" out of a blue and white can from the refrigerator. I mean "Food" is on the label, period. The Ralphs plain wrap (remember them) are all over the sets, in the convenience store, at the supermarket, bottles of plain wrap whiskey and plain wrap "Tasteetos," plain wrap beer and plain wrap cigarettes.

Some other good shtick: the dead rat thrown in the car with the woman that doesn't accomplish its purpose; the money in the presents that Otto throws out the window busted open by the tires of another car for us to see and drool over; the "I left a book of matches" line that diverts Otto's idiot friend pumping gas; the pepper spray; Miller by the ashcan fire contemplating the disappeared from the future and "the lattice of coincidence that lays on top of everything" (trippy, man); and the punk criminal act of "Let's go get sushi and not pay." And Otto's clean pressed white dress shirt and the tie--I love the tie--as Lite tells him, "Doing my job, white boy."

See this for the authentic eighties street scenes and for my UCLA Bruin buddy (by way of Oxford) director Alex Cox who dreamed the whole thing up. Only an Englishman could really see America authentically.

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)

This was a surprise for me, I really didn't expect 'Repo Man' to hit such a chord with me, and alas it succeeded in making me a fan. I was admittedly a little put off by the film's supposed punk outset but was glad to find that it didn't take itself seriously and often had its tongue planted firmly in the cheek.

What Alex Cox delivers here is a timeless classic that has seemingly influenced a lot of my favourite films to date, and of course was influenced itself by other personal favourites. So not only was it natural for me to love 'Repo Man', but it won me over on its own rights with its wonderfully satirical tone and hilarious yet interesting dystopian science fiction themes.

Although incredibly annoying at first, the film's characters eventually won me over and by the end of the film I had learned to love every one of them. This was thanks to the effective and focused characterisation dealt with by Cox, allowing his characters to grow from being dislikable idiots to harmless jesters. Indeed if it wasn't for the characters, 'Repo Man' wouldn't be as funny as it is and it wouldn't even be as interesting. In key with the writing, the cast also do a great job with the handling of their characters, all turning in solid and memorable performances.

If there is one complaint I have it is that the pacing sometimes goes a little out of balance and leads to the story to getting caught up in trivial scenes that either should have been cut or been made more progressive to the plot. Nevertheless, I absolutely loved this film (especially that brilliant ending!) and recommend it to fans of science fiction comedy or satires. Granted not everyone will enjoy at as much as I did, but it certainly deserves a watch.

Much of REPO MAN seems improvised, but all in all, this is a good, quirky and entertaining flick. Emilio Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton are particularly good as a pair of repo men (car repossesors), though my favorite character is the scene stealing, completely underrated Tracey Walter, playing a kind of street corner philosopher role. It's also a blast seeing remnants of the 1980s California hardcore punk scene, including various musicians in acting roles, as well as seeing some of the less glamorous parts of L.A. captured on film.

This is NOT a film that the average film viewer will love. Many will be alienated because of the film's strong language and rather amoral characters. Many will be alienated because the film is so strange and,....well, strange! But, if you have a high tolerance for these factors, then you'll no doubt have a great time watching this cult classic. Just be prepared--this is PROBABLY NOT a film for grandma and the kiddies! In addition to very harsh language, there is drug use, sex (though you don't see anything) and violence galore.

The film almost defies description, though I'll try. Emelio Estevez stars as a rather low-key guy who falls into the job of repossessing cars. And, once he takes the job, he finds that the subculture is bizarre. In fact, the people he works for are the most motley crew of freaks you could imagine. And, into the midst of this group of freaks comes a plot about stolen alien corpses and a car trunk that vaporizes anyone who opens it!! Heck, I won't even bother continuing...suffice to say it's just weird.

Overall, while the acting and script occasionally fall flat, the film is funny, twisted and never fails to surprise--particularly the hallucinogenic ending! In addition, the film has a great sound track--one of the best I've heard. It's full of punk music AND retro 50s rifts that I particularly loved. Who would have thought I would have liked music from the likes of Iggy Pop and The Plugz?! Plus, if you really like the tunes, you can buy the special edition which comes with the movie on DVD and a music CD as well.

By the way, as you are watching here are a couple interesting things to note. The food in the movie is all in generic-style containers and say 'food', 'beer' and the like. Also, note when the one punk is dying--listen to his death speech--it's a classic!

One of the few cult classics I freely say I enjoyed, this film has a unique quality of being pretty good, yet deep down you know this is just trash. It's quite a quandary, considering this film is so close to my heart, yet so way off my critical radar. I guess it is good to have a film like this on your resume, one that is just silly, yet likable. Harry Dean Stanton was brilliant in his role, fully epitomizing the high stress life the repo man. Otto was also portrayed nicely by Emilio Estevez. Watch this film if you dare. You just might like it.