I had no interest in Repo Man until I found out it was getting a Blu Ray release soon. I figured previously that it was a piece of 80s tat, probably quite macho and involved guns and explosions. I assumed this not least because of the DVD cover, which just shows Emilio Estevez looking tough on it (I didn't realise it was Emilio Estevez, or I would have been more interested). The film is however much more interesting than that, it's an unusual mesh of styles and is one of those films that is really hard to catagorize.
It follows Otto (Estevez), a young punk who is fed up of his job in a supermarket so quits in a spectacular fashion. He is then approached by Harry Dean Stanton, asked to move his 'wife's' car as she is pregnant. What transpires is that Otto is being conned into repossessing the car for Stanton, after initial reluctance, he then decides to join the repo men in their profession, working out the best ways to effectively steal cars for a living. Along side this we have a man who is driving something in his boot which at the start of the film evaporates a police officer who is unlucky enough to look in the trunk of his car. For a large portion of the film I was curious how these two stories could possibly be in any way linked. They are tied together through the car that has this mysterious content being a car with a very large reward on it for the repo men, and a girl that Otto is getting to know being a conspiracy nut who believes that their is proof of Alien life in the trunk of the car.
At its helm this film has two often overlooked actors, Emilio Estevez & Harry Dean Stanton. Whilst Estevez has pretty much given up on acting to pursue a career as a director (and a promising one at that) Stanton continues to provide bit parts in a lot of respectable films, neither though seem to have got the recognition commercially that they deserve. This film shows that Emilio Estevez is bigger than the brat pack image too, shunning much of what made him famous in the first place.
It's an unusual film, and it doesn't always make sense in the way that I wish it would. I respect the meshing of genres, I admire the idea that the film should be a little more unusual in what it does, but sometimes I did wish that it would just make a little more sense. But then I don't know if the film was meant in complete earnest. I imagine that the world of repo men is very different to the one portrayed here, whilst the repo men are caught out now and then, beaten up by those that they are repossessing, or chased through the streets, it is also portrayed as a larger than life profession with a proper brotherhood that you see in police movies and such. The whole Alien thing too lends a surreal edge to the film that lets you know that the film isn't entirely serious.
I think that this film is one that deserves the moniker 'Cult Classic'. It's a film that I would be hard pressed to find a designated audience for, and like other unusual films of the time it provides a curious addition to anyones collection. It's also a film that I can see myself recommending to people purely as it is so odd, and perhaps getting people round to watch from time to time. It's by no means a bad film, but a little more cohesion could have made it a great film. As it is it's a cult classic, but one of the better ones.
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