LR's The Blu Room REPO MEN Blu-Ray
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By Ron Henriques on
July 27, 2010
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REPO MEN (Blu-Ray)
Universal Home Entertainment
2010/Rated R & Unrated/120 mins
List Price $39.98 – Available July 27, 2010
Repo Men is one of those films you watch and think, “hey this isn't as bad as I thought it was” until something occurs out of left field that screws up the rest of the picture. I won't reveal what that something is, because even though it didn't work for me, it may not have the same effect on you. Then again, there are many faults within this picture, but another viewer could just as easily see them as some of the movie's strengths. If the film's title or premise of assassins sent to repossess past due body parts from recipients sounds familiar, then you may be thinking of director Darren Lynn Bousman's 2008 adaptation of the underground live show Repo !The Generic Opera. To be fair, the premise of both films may appear to be identical, but even RTGO's creators Terrence Zdunich and Darren Smith have come forth to say that Miguel Sapochnik's feature didn't steal from their material. The stories in both films may unfold on a futuristic landscape, but where RTGO was a horror/rock opera, Repo Men is an action comedy. Actually Sapchnik's film feels so inconsistent, often it seems it doesn't know what it wants to be, but the parts that do work entertain for at least a good while.
Best friends since grade school, Remy (Jude Law) and Jake (Forest Whittaker) are the “Repo Men”, armed retrieval specialists whose job is to repossess artificial organs from patients who have fallen behind on their payments to the medical corporation known as the Union. They may be a pair of killers or errand boys, but with pay this great, the two friends love what they do and are good at it. Remy's wife Carol (Carice van Houten) disapproves and out of fear of exposing their son to the details of dad's morbid occupation, wants him to ask for a transfer to a desk job. To Jake's chagrin, Remy agrees to Carol's ultimatum, but one last job puts him in the hospital when a faulty defibrillator fries his heart instead of the patient's. Waking up in a hospital, Remy discovers that he's tied to the Union for life now that he has one of their artificial hearts in his chest and will spend the next several years paying them back. Carol has also left him and though putting in some serious overtime with Jake might speed up his medical payments, Remy discovers he doesn't have a stomach for the job anymore.
Remy does try his hand at that desk job, but the conscience he's grown only makes him more honest with potential clients about the Union's nefarious policies. With his own payments now past due, Remy must make the choice of giving back his artificial heart on going on the run for the rest of his life. He chooses the latter after making a connection with Beth (Alice Braga), a singer he crossed paths with in a nightclub who turns out to be an organ recipient herself. Not only is Beth's body filled with prosthetics provided by the Union, but she's suffering from a drug addiction Remy soon assists her to withdraw from. With his wife and son out of the picture and his best friend now his pursuer, Remy makes a bid to escape with Beth and hopefully start a new life.
Repo Men not only shares similarities with Repo the Genetic Opera, but has a dystopian look obviously copied from futuristic films like Ridley Scott's Blade Runner. There's also a David Cronenberg vibe with the organ retrieval scenes, which are either played to humor or repulse. For a time the picture works when it focuses on the unique relationship between Remy and Jake as Law and Whittaker play men who should have grown up a long time ago. When Remy's perspective shifts, the dynamic between he and Jake is no longer as strong because they are now on opposing sides. Despite the fact that they attempt to reach the same goal together and Law and Braga are two attractive actors, Remy and Beth never come together as a romantic couple. Quite a bit of humor comes off of Law and Whittaker's onscreen relationship as well as Liev Schrieber's sour attitude as their unscrupulous boss Frank, but those moments are overshadowed by violence or gunplay that doesn't add up to much. When the third act eventually arrives, the picture loses steam and though screenwriters Eric Garcia and Garrett Lerner think they are being clever with their delivery of twists and turns, the final result is D.O.A.
Video: Repo Men is a very dark looking film shot with a great deal of shadow, yet this 1080p AVC encoded transfer framed at 2.39 to 1 does the original theatrical presentation justice with its rich blacks and cold color palette. Universal has a great track record for crisp and clean HD transfers and this one is no exception.
Audio: With a DTS Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack, Repo Men sounds better on blu-ray than during its theatrical run. Bass and directional effects come into play effectively during scenes of heavy gunfire and the music is mixed almost perfectly, giving you the rich detail of classic songs like Rosemary Clooney's “Sway” or Nina Simone's rendition of “Feeling Good”.
Extras: There's not a lot to find here, but Univeral's U-Control feature offers a few nice supplemental materials as well as an audio commentary with director Sapochnik and screenwriters Garcia and Lerner. Through U-Control's Picture-In-Picture option, you can find interviews with cast and crew as well as the “Artiforg Tech Specs” mode that provides detailed descriptions on the artificial organs and prosthetics in the film.
Additional extras include five deleted and extended scenes (SD, 9:00 mins) with optional commentary by Sapochnik, Garcia and Lerner, Inside the Visual Effects (HD, 6:00 mins) a before and after featurette and seven Union Commercials (SD, 4:00):"Thanks to the Union," "Didn't Have to Happen," "Super Dry," "Wife to U," "Jack Soda Party," "Jack Soda Toy," and "Mattress." The disc is also BD-Live enabled, features the Pocket Blu app and contains both the theatrical and unrated cuts.
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Tags: Repo Men, News |
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