Repo Man is the seminal punk rock, cult classic. Ask any punk what the best punk rock movie out there is and you’ll usually get this as an answer. Which is funny, because the movie doesn’t so much appear to be about a punk rocker in a strange situation, but a suburbanite poser that abandons his punk rock attitude for what he is really all about… self-promotion and greed.

For those of you that don’t know the plot, what’s wrong with you? This movie is about a young punk rocker named Otto (Emilio Estevez). Just as his life is about to hit rock bottom he is saved, kind of, by a grizzled old repo man that goes by the name of Bud (Harry Dean Stanton). What follows is the story of decomposing aliens, crime, and backstabbing.

As the story begins we see Estevez’ character getting fired because of his defiant “Fuck you” attitude. That is when life gets tough for his character. He finds himself with no money and no job after his girlfriend dumps him, not by telling him, but by slobbering on the knob of Dick Rude, who plays perhaps the most memorable character of the movie, Duke. Just as he is about to truly experience the life and trouble of your true punk rocker, he is saved by Harry Dean Stanton’s character. The rest of the movie seems to prove that Otto was simply a poser who found it easy to shoot the bird and slamdance when he had a job, a girl, and some parents to fall back on. By the end of the movie Otto has transformed into a young capitalist devoid of any recognizable merits other than his own self-interest.

The transformation is remarkable, and it is truly funny that punk rockers will point to this movie as being the most influential of all punk rock themed movies. This movie is not about a punk rocker, it is about the abandonment of one’s own beliefs in order to make it in society, a lesson that Otto learns and benefits from by the end of the movie. Unfortunately, I disagree with the message… and as much as I wish this was the tale of a punk rocker sticking to his guns and succeeding in a society that is against him, I can’t really say that this film is about that.

The acting in this movie is top notch. Sy Richardson plays an excellent counterpoint to Stanton’s more reserved repo man style. His monologues are truly memorable, and while not quite as quotable as Stanton’s, I find them to be much closer to a philosophy than the dreamy capitalist ramblings of Stanton’s character. Every person in this movie is unique and interesting. There are no filler characters and each person seems to operate on their own inherent moral system, not unlike the real world. I can’t help but think that this is one of the reasons why I love this movie so much. It’s not about a collective group of individuals that all have the same interests and demographics, but about how individuals interact in a world where not everyone believes the same things as you or even looks like you. In this respect, Repo Man achieves where the good majority of movies fail.

The other aspect of this film that stands out is the music. Every song in this movie is a classic by now, from the opening Repo Man theme by Iggy Pop to the closing anthem of Reel Ten by The Plugz. The music fits and is not forced upon the viewer of the movie. Every song seems organically placed and perfect in its placement. I still rock the soundtrack to this movie as often as I can.

Alex Cox’s movie is shot in an extremely depressing style. The environs of L.A. are extremely seedy and where most directors might choose to shoot in more visually stunning parts of town, I think Cox’s decision to focus on the uglier parts of L.A. fits well with the tone and theme of the movie. I find it interesting that Cox manages to keep a movie interesting, even though much of the dialogue and action takes place in the interior of automobiles.

Perhaps the best part of this movie is its dialogue. Try and find a more quotable cult classic and you will have extreme difficulty. From my favorite line, “John Wayne was a fag,” to the classic line uttered by Duke, “Yeah. Let’s go get some sushi… and not pay,” every line seems to have been run through some magical pop culture machine that turns perfectly banal dialogue into pop-culture gold.

Anyways, I like this movie. Just don’t let anyone tell you that this is the seminal punk rock movie, as it focuses mainly on the surface elements of what it means to be punk rock… saying “fuck you,” shootin’ the bird, and wearing a Mohawk… you know, that type of shit.

Final Synopsis: This is a great movie full of wonderfully eccentric characters with an edge to them. This film is packed full of interesting and quotable dialogue. This is a “true” cult classic and as such should belong in anyone’s DVD collection… of course, if you’re really cool, you’ll get the version that comes in the collectible License plate tin. Good luck finding it, there were only 25,000 made. Buy this!

Points Lost: -1 for failing to capture the true meaning of punk rock, -1 for burying its meaning so well, that most people have no fucking clue what’s going on in this movie

Burning Question: What do you think the seminal punk rock film is?

Repo Man
8/10