repo men

the effects of our floundering economy seem to be needling their way into every aspect of our lives, from job losses, to the rising costs of caramel fraps, and now to hollywood film. what was probably intended to be a slightly thought provoking science fiction/ action flick ended up being a gory lecture on the consequences of DANGEROUS lending practices... or or!! PREDATORY corporate capitalism. am i making a pun yet? no?

the premise of the movie, in case you haven't heard, is that in the not so distant future, man has developed the technology to create artificial organs for the purpose of organ transplants. these organs are so costly that high interest loans are required to pay for them. if you get behind on your payments, you have 90 days to pay your balance. after 90 days, jude law breaks into your house, tasers you, slices you open, and "repossesses" your organs while you are still breathing, and then leaves you to die in a pool of your own blood. the missteps in logic are obvious, but lets not forget this is a movie, and perhaps, like other great works of art, we can willingly suspend our disbelief for the purpose of a greater point that is being made. this, however, is not a great work of art. the point of such a ridiculous premise is merely to see jude law's flexing biceps stab and dig through the innards of countless victim after victim. it is only until he himself, struck by the cruel hand of fate, suffers an unfortunate accident and finds himself signing his life away for a heart transplant, that he understands the plight of his victims, the irony of which is like being hit over the head with a sledgehammer.

it IS an interesting premise, and i will say that for the first act i was sufficiently entertained by the enticing set up. the problem is that it was executed with zero self-referential humor or wit. they played it too straight and literal for the movie to actually convey a point. if it had been written (and lets face it, acted) with some wit and irony, this movie could have been SATIRE. it could have made a macabre statement on our financially corrupt society. but instead, the movie took itself to damn seriously, and ended up being nothing more than what it is: a "gut wrenching" poorly rendered action flick. not to mention that it also seems to admonish the victims (aka the clients) just as much as corporations (aka the murderers), which i think is a poor statement to make and probably not what the filmmakers intended.

if you're worried that i've spoiled the whole movie for you now, don't worry. there's still at least an hour and a half left of gut splattering gore, and one plot twist i bet you saw coming a mile away. still wondering if there's any point in seeing this movie? i will give you one: jude law is a sexy, sexy man. and that's reason enough for me :)