Jude Law, Forest Whitaker Misfire With Awful ‘Repo Men’

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CHICAGO – Reminiscent of vastly superior work by David Cronenberg and Paul Verhoeven but with none of the directorial skill apparent in the work of those two talented men, “Repo Men” with Jude Law and Forest Whitaker is a total disaster possibly unmatched in the careers of its talented stars. Like a product of the typically awful video-game-to-screen subgenre but with no source material to blame for the results, “Repo Men” is a film with no identity and little personality unless being remarkably inconsistent counts.

Rating: 1.0/5.0

Like a lot of bad sci-fi movies, “Repo Men” starts interestingly enough but falls apart after a dull, poorly edited middle act and really collapses in a ridiculous final reel that employs a brand of lunacy usually reserved for straight-to-video fare. This is the kind of junk expected of some actors but it’s sad to see talented performers like Jude Law, Forest Whitaker, Carice Van Houten, and Liev Schreiber given nothing genuine to do as the film drags itself from one lame action set-up to another without a memorable moment or a thought that hasn’t been more interestingly explored elsewhere.

Read Brian Tallerico’s full review of “Repo Men” in our reviews section.

Adapted in conjunction with the release of the book on which its based, “The Repossession Mambo” (the film’s original and superior title), “Repo Men” is another vision of a future ruled by evil corporations and powerful men in suits. The company at the center of “Repo Men” is The Union, a group that presents itself as benevolent but hides a much darker side. They deal in human organs, selling mechanical livers, hearts, lungs, and any other body part that may need replacing for near seven figures a piece. There’s nothing too difficult for The Union to recreate.

Of course, there’s a catch. Most of the parts sold by The Union are so expensive that no one can afford the monthly five-figure payments or the 20% APR that comes with them. That’s where the repo men come in and two of the best at what they do are Remy (Jude Law) and Jake (Forest Whitaker). They’ll give you a 90 day grace period but then Remy and/or Jake will cut you open and take back what you can’t afford. Remy has a wife (Carice Van Houten, so good in “Black Book”) who wishes he would quit his dangerous and pretty disgusting job but he falls for a girl named Beth (Alice Braga) after his life is turned upside and he becomes a target of the repo men going after his recently-replaced ticker. As anyone who has ever seen an action movie will tell you, former partner will become hunter and Remy and Beth will have to hide from a system that seems to be everywhere.

Continuing reading for Brian Tallerico’s full “Repo Men” review.

Repo Men
Photo credit: Kerry Hayes and Universal