Friday, September 12, 2014

REPO MAN (1984)

I must have missed something.  I've seen this film three times now over the course of a few decades and each time it goes right over my head.  Hollywood-ized "punk" Emilio Estevez gets fired from his grocery store job and eventually falls in with a car repossession company.  Some minor adventures happen (repossessing cars, getting shot at, getting maced, convenience store shoot-out, banging a cute chick in the backseat of a car, vomiting, etc.), but the main story line is about a 1964 Chevy Malibu with a $20,000 reward on it.  Every two-bit repo man in LA is looking for it!  What the hell could be so special about it that it has such a high bounty?

And that's about it.  Is there some kind of satire or social/political statement that I'm missing?  Who knows.  As it is though, the authentic LA street scenery was the most interesting thing going on.  The story is so-so, but it doesn't go anywhere.  The acting is good.  I especially liked Harry Dean Stanton.  The "punk" aspect is barely even touched out other than a few people having mohawks and couple of punk songs playing in the background.  Other than that, REPO MAN is kind of a bore.  Zero nudity, bland dialogue, unsatisfying ending, low budget distractions, hit or miss pacing, no violence.

I don't dislike REPO MAN, it's just not my bag.  I did notice a few things that were influential in later films, video games, etc., so for that, at least, it's kinda cool.