Repo Man

Repo Man is Entertainment with Problems

            A good movie is able to tell a story, even out of linear order. Linear order simply means it contains a beginning, middle, and end and is told in this order. Repo Man has a beginning and middle, but the ending seems thrown in and nonsensical. While Repo Man contains an interesting concept, a boy steals a car and becomes a repo man when he finds out his parents have no money for him, the movie fails to deliver the story, and the major dramatic question is never answered. The movie was ultimately too confusing, especially since the end did not provide a conclusion to the story that anyone can understand. The performances were fine and the shots were fine, but none of those things mattered in the end because of dissatisfaction with the end result, and trying to determine what was happening in the end. In spite of everything, it is an enjoyable watch because we have to constantly ask what the hell is happening to even understand what any scene is.

            The story concept is interesting to say the least, especially when a vehicle's trunk incinerates people to a crisp. Otto gets dragged into the world of repo men and ultimately looks for a car worth 20 thousand dollars, which happens to be the car incinerating people. However, the reason's the things are happening is ridiculous. It is highly possible this was the intent. It shows how donating a child's college money to a televangelist might not make the world better for the child.

            The performances had their good moments. Emilio Estevez was able to act as a boy, albeit a ridiculous one, whose overarching goal is to make money. While certain moments lack any good performance, he was convincing enough. When people were attacking him as he was unwittingly stealing his first car, shock sprung from his body language as he drove away with a new career already decided for him; that's about as realistic as it got. The rest of the time everything appeared forced, even when his old friend was dying in the supermarket after he decided to start doing crimes for life. Overall, the performances were okay, but not spectacular or worthy of award.

            Another consideration is the camerawork. The quality of camerawork was good. The best shot is when Lite, the only African American in the movie, is shooting at someone who started shooting at the repo men. The shot is intense, in contrast with most of the other shots in the movie, and it showed his control of the situation with a low camera angle. All the shots in the movie were lit fine, but no dramatic lighting appeared until the end when green lights were used. The movie was mostly dull and monotone lighting. It did bring out the few scenes lit entirely different and making those all the more memorable, but it made the movie many talking heads with some visuals of cars being taken, shots being fired, and bats being swung. Visually, it had some of the elements of a good moving picture, but it always returned to someone explaining something and returning to a dialogue driven movie.

            The entire reason the movie does not seem enjoyable is the ridiculous climax. Otto basically gets in the 20 thousand dollar car and takes a joy ride with another guy driving the car, who does not know how to drive. “Is Otto dead” becomes the main question for me. It makes him seem like he wants nothing anymore, even though he never delivered the car with the aliens. The ending created for the movie was beyond ridiculous. While it screams of the ascension of the main character, it is impossible to see it as ascension, in the biblical sense, and more as getting high.

            Despite the movie's many shortcomings, it has some interesting sections and is funny. Entertaining is perhaps the greatest strength of movies, and Repo Man can be entertaining if looked at, instead of watching it critically. The jokes are somewhat random and almost reflect an improvisational comedy, even though it's scripted. The best parts involve simple objects bought at stores, including soft drinks, food, and air fresheners.

            Repo Man is a movie to watch. Even though it lacks in greatness of performance, it's still an entertaining piece of history. The greatest movie lists will not be including this title simply because it does not follow any rules of what is perceived as a classic, however, the numbers show it was a popular movie because the people who enjoyed it were more outspoken. In the end, story structure be damned, it was a good and funny movie.