Salt Lake Tribune Review
Appropriately for a futuristic thriller about artificial human organs and the people who traffic in them, \"Repo Men\" is largely assembled from spare parts -- and, as Dr. Frankenstein proclaimed, it\'s alive.
The story -- written by novelist Eric Garcia (and based on his novel) and Garrett Lerner (a TV writer, most recently for \"House\") -- takes place in a near future where organ transplantation has been made practical with the invention of artificial organs, or \"artiforgs.\" (There\'s even a simulated brainscape, sort of a virtual retirement home for those whose minds are deteriorating.)
The company that makes the organs, The Union, doesn\'t sell them cheap, as a smarmy salesman (
Liev Schreiber) tells his over-the-barrel customers. What he doesn\'t mention is that The Union is quite strict toward those who don\'t keep up on their payments. Get three months behind, and the \"repo men\" come to collect your organs. Customers usually don\'t survive long enough to call the Better Business Bureau.
The Union\'s best repo men are Remy (
Jude Law) and Jake (
Forest Whitaker), friends since their military days. \"A job\'s a job\" is their philosophy of corporate-sanctioned murder, even after Remy\'s wife (
Carice van Houten) leaves him. Then an on-the-job accident leaves Remy with an artificial heart -- the Jarvik-39, the latest model -- and a mountain of debt. (Worker\'s comp isn\'t covered in The Union\'s contract, apparently.)
This is double trouble, since Remy was getting paid on commission -- and his bills to The Union are piling up. With his days numbered and Jake in pursuit, Remy goes into an underground subculture of people avoiding the repo men. Remy quickly befriends one, a gorgeous singer named Beth (played by
Alice Braga) who\'s loaded with upgraded parts.
I lost track of how many other movies first-time director Miguel Sapochnik references -- and not just the perfectly selected clip from \"Monty Python\'s Meaning of Life\" on Jake\'s big-screen TV set. The dystopic future resembles \"Blade Runner.\" The basic premise mirrors the offbeat \"Repo! The Genetic Opera.\" There\'s a major fight scene cribbed straight from the Korean thriller \"Old Boy,\" and punctuated with a move from \"Pulp Fiction.\" And the ending, which is sure to infuriate viewers, recalls \"Brazil\" and \"Vanilla Sky\" (or, if you prefer, the superior Spanish original, \"Open Your Eyes\").
\"Repo Men\" shifts tone, sometimes erratically, from bloody thriller to dark comedy and back again -- but it\'s always arresting and eye-catching. The filmmakers must hope, though, that the makers of those other movies don\'t come looking for their scenes back.
-- Sean P. Means
The rundown: In a near future where transplanted organs are reclaimed for unpaid bills, a "repo man" (
Jude Law) turns outlaw in this stylish and bloody thriller. 115 minutes. (SPM)
Synopsis: Writers Eric Garcia and Garrett Lerner team with director Miguel Sapochnik to adapt Garcia's novel about a repo man named Remy whose body has been constructed almost entirely of artificial organs. When Remy (
Jude Law) fails to keep up on payments for his recent heart transplant, his former partner vows to take back the organ by force if necessary. Meanwhile, Remy finds an unexpected ally in the form of his long-lost wife, Beth (
Sonia Braga), who has also been retrofitted with numerous artificial organs. Now, despite the fact that they haven't seen each other since Remy joined the army ten years ago, the desperate repo man and his sympathetic wife attempt a daring escape from a man who holds the lives of millions in the palm of his hands.
Forest Whitaker and
Liev Schreiber co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
