Repo Men

Stars: Jude Law, Forest Whitaker, Alice Braga, Liev Schreiber, Carice van Houten

Director: Miguel Sapochnik

At least this sci-fi thriller, though not very good, has a novel idea. It's the near future, and Law and Whitaker are repo men. The items they repossess, however, are not cars or even homes, but body parts - hearts, kidneys, eyes - whose new owners have fallen more than three months behind on their payments.

'Repo' consists of subjugation by a taser gun, followed by a little basic surgery, and back to The Union, the conglomerate responsible for such devil's options. Crikey - no wonder Obama's reforming the American health service.

Twist number one comes when faulty equipment on the job gvives Law a heart attack and he finds himself with one of Union's implants. With no further relish for being a repo man, he faces the prospect of the hunter becoming the hunted.

If you think Law's knife-wielding, gun-blasting, fist-crunching invasion of Union headquarters at the end is a trifle unlikely, then wait for twist number two.

Some will find the extreme violence in this watchable only between fingers, while the dialogue gives the actors merely limited opportunities to build up character. 'I have an artificial heart,' says Law of his fellow-fugitive (Braga), 'and she has an artificial everything else. Maybe we're two parts of the same puzzle.' It's a puzzle only action fans with strong stomachs will want to tackle.

David Quinlan

USA 2009. UK Distributor: Universal. Technicolor.
111 minutes. Not widescreen. UK certificate: 18.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 1, Violence/Horror 3, Drugs 0, Swearing 2.

Review date: 11 Apr 2010