REPO MAN (1984)
Article 5044 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 1-9-2016
Directed by Alex Cox
Featuring Harry Dean Stanton, Emilio Estevez, Tracey Walter
Country: USA
What it is: Bizarre punk comedy

In desperate need for money, a young punk takes a job as an apprentice repossession man. He becomes entangled in the hunt for 1964 Chevy Malibu with “something” hidden in the trunk.

I saw this movie many years ago, and all it did then was leave me scratching my head. Watching it this time, I found it charmingly weird and flat-out hilarious at times. It’s something of a punkish “slice of life” comedy (director/writer Alex Cox worked as a repo man at one time) and science fiction conspiracy thriller, and it’s awash with strange running gags (such as the fact that all the products on display in the movie are generic) and odd characters. Estevez is solid as the punk, but Harry Dean Stanton and Tracey Walter are great as the repo man who recruits him and a conspiracy theorist who also works at the agency. Sy Richardson also appears as another repo man, and if you keep your eyes open, Angelique Pettyjohn pops up in a cameo. There’s a couple of other odd musical connections to the movie outside of the punk genre; Jimmy Buffett pops up as a Federal agent, and the movie was executive produced by former Monkee Michael Nesmith.