Those who enter the wonderful world of cult cinema often find themselves at odds with films made in a time and place outside of viewers’ points of reference. The phenomenon, which first became visible with psychedelic and similar “out there” films of late 1960s, can be viewed with certain films made decades later. One such example is Repo Man, 1984 science fiction comedy directed by Alex Cox, a film that is difficult to “get” if you weren’t at least somewhat familiar with certain economic, political and cultural trends of 1980s South California.
Protagonist, played by Emilio Estevez, is Otto Maddox, rebellious Los Angeles teenager whose life revolves around sex and punk music. Such lifestyle, however, has its limits and Otto becomes aware of them after losing job in supermarket and finding out that his parents have donated his college fund to televangelist. One day he is approached on the street by Bud (played by Harry Dean Stanton), old man who offers him for a job in a car repossession agency. Otto reluctantly takes the offer and, while being mentored by Otto, meets all kinds of bizarre characters among his colleagues. In the mean time, 1964 Chevy Malibu driven by half-mad nuclear scientist J. Frank Parnell (played by Fox Harris), arrives in Los Angeles and the government agents, in order to locate it and retrieve mysterious and deadly content of its trunk, set the large bounty on it. Otto begins the search for the car and encounters UFO researchers and some of his old punk friends who decided indulge in life of crime.
Feature debut of British film maker Alex Cox was made few months before Ronald Reagan’s “It’s morning in America” re-election campaign slogan would result in one of the largest landslides in American history. As an outsider, Cox seemed to be more perceptive of the real state of affairs in America and his film paints much darker picture. Almost entire film takes parts in less glamorous parts of Los Angeles, captured by Robby Müller’s suggestive cinematography, and show the world of urban decay, impoverished minorities, middle class sedated by television and economy dominated by faceless corporate brands. This depressive picture is well-tempered with biting satire and black humour, which can be seen in a protagonist, who likes to think of himself as a rebel despite living in suburbs with parents who not so long ago used to be rebellious hippies. Even the car repossession business, that would be portrayed as one of the more brutal consequences of social inequality, is here portrayed as life of excitement, adventure and embodiment of all the positive aspects of American Dream. Cox succeeds in that mostly thanks to diverse and capable cast, most notably Emilio Estevez who, despite acting like rebellious punk in the beginning, very confidently plays the straight man for most of the film. Harry Dean Stanton, one of the most experienced and reliable character actors in Hollywood history, provides another great role and create excellent “buddy buddy” dynamic with his younger colleague’s character. Although Repo Man features many funny and outrageous scenes, not all jokes are funny and subplot involving Otto’s romance with UFO researcher (played by Olivia Barash) is underdeveloped. Punk music, which makes the most of soundtrack, might not be everyone’s cup of tea and the lack of proper budget becomes obvious in finale featuring adequate but still primitive special effects. Cox, however, keeps the fast pace and manages to squeeze multitude of plots and characters into hour and half, thus allowing short and potentially rewarding experience to viewers curious about 1980s cult cinema.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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