Hidden Movie Gem: “Repo Man”

Scott Myers

15 Oct 2013 • 2 min read

Today’s Hidden Movie Gem guest post comes from David Joyner.

Movie Title: Repo Man

Year: 1984

Writer: Alex Cox

Lead Actors: Harry Dean Stanton and Emilio Estevez.

Director: Alex Cox

Plot Summary: Young punk Otto becomes a repo man after helping to steal a car, and stumbles into a world of wackiness as a result.

Why I Think This Movie Is A Hidden Gem: This movie stands out as an example of a story with lots of interesting characters, unusual plot twists, and comic dialog. It mixes the punk rock culture with the repo men culture, with the LA crime scene, with
science fiction and aliens, with government conspiracy theories. Extremely well-done low budget sci-fi comedy with a good punk rock music sound-track.

My Favorite Moment In The Movie: The grocery store scene: The scene where Otto gets fired from the supermarket (Kevin sings a 7-Up jingle, Otto tells him to shut up, gets into an argument, Otto gets fired; it is in fact a combination of 2 different scenes in the online script).

KEVIN
Feelin’ 7-Up, I’m feelin’ 7-Up,
Feelin’ 7-Up, I’m feelin’ 7-Up,
It’s a crisp refreshing feelin’, crystal clear and light,
Ameria’s drinkin’ 7-Up and it sure feels right,
Feelin’ like a 7-

OTTO
Kevin, stop singing, man!

KEVIN
Huh? I wasn’t singing, guy.

Otto puts a price sticker on Kevin’s glasses with his sticker gun.

OTTO
I’m standing right next to you and you’re fuckin’ singing.
Now, cut it out!

Mr Humphries (his boss) walks up and Otto ends up getting fired.

It is a very funny scene.

My Favorite Dialogue In the Movie: “John Wayne was a fag” scene

MILLER :John Wayne was a fag
ALL: The hell he was!
MILLER: He was, too, you guys. I installed two-sided mirrors at his pad in Brentwood and he came to the door in a dress.

Then there is an argument whether dressing in women’s clothing and watching your buddies have sex makes you a “homo”. Again, very funny. See page 39 in script, online.

Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie:

A very young Miguel Sandoval as Archie.

Emilio Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton in one of their best roles.

Some say the performance of Zander Schloss (who, in real life, was the bassist for the band who performed in the movie) as Kevin inspired the Napolean Dynamite character.

Move Trailer:

“John Wayne was a fag” scene:

Repo Man can also be found on Nicolas Winding Refn’s DVD Picks (see the 1:20 point):

There is a Criterion version available:

Criterion

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