An unlikely actor pairing, a weird script, and a knock-it-out-of-the-park soundtrack. There is a lot to like about ‘Repo Man’ the movie. It was another university student discovery that soon became a staple on the communal living room turntable.
First the film: Emilo Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton circa 1984 are the young rookie and the jaded old guy. Stanton’s character passes on his wisdom and initiates Estevez’s character into the sleazy underworld of repossession. Estevez is at his best as an innocent slowly getting dragged into another world, fleeing his odd TV religious captured parents.
The scenes range from the awkward, the strange, to the fast paced and dangerous, and sometimes pathos. All are punctuated by the right song at the right time: the strident, the manic noise fest, and the rapture of the UFO/Sci Fi like ending accompanied by transcendental guitar from the Plugz and Reel Ten.
How did Director Alex Cox do it? The soundtrack ranges from the well-known Iggy Pop to the punk rock-hard core movers and shakers: Black Flag, Suicidal Tendencies, and the Circle Jerks, to the lesser known Burning Sensations and the menacing darkness of Juicy Bananas. All have a song matched to the action on screen.
Alex Cox moved on to the better known ‘Sid and Nancy’ next, with a likewise top soundtrack, notable for the Pogues and Joe Strummer contributions.