Jude's Respossession Law
Some time in the future mankind has found a way to extend life through Union's artificial organs except artificial organs come at a cost, a huge cost and if you fall behind on your payments by three months the Repo Men not only come knocking, the also knock you out and remove the organ you owe money on. Remy (Jude Law - Sherlock Holmes) is one of Union's top Repo men who has no feeling towards those he effectively knocks dead when he repossesses an organ. That is until he has a heart attack and when he comes to discovers he has one of the Union's expensive artificial hearts in his chest as well as a huge debt. But having an artificial heart comes with a strange side effect as Remy finds his heart no longer in the job and when he is unable to make his payments finds himself with a friend being hunted down by his former partner Jake (Forest Whitaker - Street Kings).
The best way to describe "Repo Men" is to tell you about the opening scene where Remy is waiting in a swanky apartment for a man to return home. After stunning the guy with his gun he suits up in protective clothing and sets about cutting him open to remove an artificial liver whilst we hear Rosemary Clooney's version of "Sway". It is a shocking scene yet also comically cool partly because of Remy's matter of fact way but also because of Rosemary Clooney singing "Sway". And that is what you get through out the movie, these scenes of matter of fact organ repossession which whilst bloody and often action packed have a dark, amusing side to them. It is what makes "Repo Men" an entertaining movie because there is nothing funnier than a guy who is matter of fact in the midst of a shocking moment.
Of course there is the storyline where we are served up this interesting version of a future where things don't look too differently to now except that organ transplants have the same financial cost of borrowing money from a payday lender. Now for the most it just paves the way for a typical action movie which runs along the familiar lines of an agent ending up having to go on the run from his own people but it does have some moments of depth. The whole element of Remy finding his artificial heart is not into the artificial organ repossession game has the possibility for some in depth examinations of human nature as it the whole dehumanization of organ repossessions. But whilst these ideas are there it never really sways from just trying to be entertaining which it is.
Now what for me makes "Repo Men" is the casting starting with Jude Law who is great when it comes to delivering the matter of fact aspects of his character. But then this works because Forest Whitaker as Jake is more of a live wire character with comical attitude which makes for a great chalk n cheese friendship. Plus there is also Liev Schreiber who is simply amusing as the slick salesman who tells clients they owe it to themselves and there family to sign for a new organ.
What this all boils down to is that "Repo Men" is a lot of fun with its blend of action, sci-fi and dark humour offering up something which might not be for everyone but is a lot of fun for those who like witty action movies.
