X
- 1984
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 32 m
- 1984
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 32 m
Summary Otto (Estevez) loses his job as a stock boy in a supermarket in Los Angeles and spends his evenings in the punk underground before encountering Bud (Stanton) who brings him into the life of professional car repossessing. Meanwhile, a nuclear physicist (Harris) has stolen something dangerous and glowing which he stashes into the trunk of ...
- 1984
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 32 m
- 1984
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 32 m
Repo Man
7.8
Where to Watch
Summary Otto (Estevez) loses his job as a stock boy in a supermarket in Los Angeles and spends his evenings in the punk underground before encountering Bud (Stanton) who brings him into the life of professional car repossessing. Meanwhile, a nuclear physicist (Harris) has stolen something dangerous and glowing which he stashes into the trunk of ...
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 21 Critic Reviews
82
90% Positive
19 Reviews
19 Reviews
10% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 21 Critic Reviews
82
90% Positive
19 Reviews
19 Reviews
10% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Arriving in the middle of the Reagan 1980s, Repo Man remains one of the few examples of revolt within the system, and it’s no surprise to learn that Cox is fond of John Carpenter’s 1988 cult classic They Live, which also weds genre mayhem to cutting political satire.
This unforgettable movie is not to be missed – though full of superb jokes, it has a weird integrity, something melancholy and serious, at its core that stays with you.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 49 User Ratings
7.8
78% Positive
38 Ratings
38 Ratings
18% Mixed
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
4% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 49 User Ratings
7.8
78% Positive
38 Ratings
38 Ratings
18% Mixed
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
4% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Holy Crap, this is one of the weirdest movies I have ever seen. But I love alien invasions, I love Esteves, and, I being a punk rocker in new orleans, love punk rock music.
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The real thing. It's a sneakily rude, truly zany farce that treats its lunatic characters with a solemnity that perfectly matches the way in which they see themselves.
Cox gives the denizens of Edge City wacky ways of expressing themselves whether they're principals, passers-by or disembodied voices. [14 Sept 1984, p.C1]
The atmospherics here are impressive. There's an undertone of comic dread in most of Cox's scenes, so artfully established that you wonder where it came from. In this respect, Cox seems a more playful variant of Wim Wenders, whose Paris, Texas might have been this funny had it not taken itself so seriously. Of course, Cox isn't Wenders -- he doesn't have the narrative skills yet. But Repo Man is without qualification the most interesting film yet about people driving around and getting into trouble. And there does seem to be a metaphor in there somewhere. [4 Apr 1985, p.4]
One of the most original films of recent memory, with an edge of black humor and punk sensibility--wickedly funny, ceaselessly inventive, and never boring.
If anyone can figure out the cosmic significance of the film's omnipresent pine tree car fresheners, you're a better man than me.
Born out of the counter-culture revolution, Alex Cox's Repo Man is a cynical, madcap, and absolutely absurd critique of the world of 1984 made by a man who had very little he liked and a very nihilistic view of the world around him. Set in small town California with young rebel Otto (Emilio Estevez) unwittingly having to remove his oversized earrings to become a repo man alongside Bud (Harry Dean Stanton), Repo Man is the kind of cultural critique that hits every possible area of American life to the point that it becomes a bit much. Fortunately, Repo Man's frantic pace, wacky plot, and delightfully odd characters, make it a film that as hard to resist as being offered by speed by a middle aged repo man as you cruise around town talking being repo men. Honestly, no film may better sum up 1980s cinema than Repo Man. Goofy effects, **** young adults, Harry Dean Stanton, inventive ideas, and an anti-consumerist undercurrent running throughout the film.
Using the repo man profession as an entry into this wacky science fiction comedy, Repo Man is interesting in how little it actually focuses on science fiction. Aside from a few mentions of aliens or the possibility of getting a Chevy Malibu as a repo (which is the car carrying those aliens), much of this film is just Otto, Bud, and Lite (Sy Richardson) picking up cars. As a result, Cox is able to mock and criticize the consumerist culture we have in America. With people constantly pissed off at the fact their car is being taken even though it is their fault, Repo Man sets the tone by showing just how dumb people can really be. The poor buy cars they cannot afford or need. The rich buy cars and feel superior to having to pay them. To Cox, both of these sides are idiotic and those who get upset about losing their car in a repo deserve to get their ass whooped by a gang of repo men with bats. Yet, the reason is not because of capitalist ideology or anything of the like. Instead, it is based upon one's word. As Bud states, credit is the only thing in this world that really matters. It separates us from the communists, yes, and Cox clearly does not like communism as he openly mocks it and the idea of things being "free", but the obligation to pay in the mind of Repo Man is not out of making the economy work. Rather, it is because somebody gave you money to buy something, thus you must pay them back. Credit shows how trustworthy a person is to return that money and, to the film, that defines a person's character. Somebody with bad credit is a bad person and vice versa. By not having credit as a way to determine somebody's trustworthiness, it makes communism inherently bad.
That said, in true nihilistic fashion, Cox hardly appreciates capitalism either. Critiquing the hustling televangelist who has Otto's parents in a trance and demands thousands of dollars in the name of God or by simply having Otto lament about television shows where people just consume, consume, and consume, Repo Man is a film that rails against consumerism and, by extension, capitalism. Showing the stress on society of a culture defined by what you have, the film shows the lengths people have resorted to as a result. With people not paying their cars, engaging in carjacking, or shooting people over repossessing their car, this car becomes an extension of who they are and how they define themselves, making it a personal affront to take it or to put obstacles in the way of them owning the car. This blase attitude to purchasing, in spite of consumerism, is really exemplified in the group of kids who go around engaging in robberies. Robbing the same store repeatedly, stealing the Chevy Malibu, and constantly questioning authority, the group is morally opposed to buying things, lest they appear poor. By stealing, they still get to identify themselves as members of this capitalist society and, by extension, as adults.
To a comedic degree, Repo Man consistently demonstrates just how immature these characters are by simply showing their interactions with one another. With criminals Duke (**** Rude) and Debbi (Jennifer Balgobin) robbing stores, the two seem to really gel only when committing crimes. In one line, Duke demonstrates his maturity level by looking at Debbi and saying, "Let's go get sushi and not pay." Juvenile and a child's definition of living life on the edge and not paying, these robberies clearly make him and Debbi feel like adults. It gives them some control and a semblance of an adult life in spite of their childish surroundings and behavior. Underscoring these actions as ones from a wannabe adult, Cox shows Duke asking Debbi to "have my baby" with the reasoning that it is what people seem to do from what he has noticed. These are lost kids, trying to find meaning in a world without any. By the time they are adults, the television-obsessed and consumerist adults have demonstrated two things has being marks of adulthood: having things and having kids. Who can blame these kids
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Awards
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Mystfest
• 1 Nomination
