Say what you will about the upcoming sci-fi feature “Repo Men” – it nails the health care zeitgeist better than any psychic could have foretold.
The new film stars Jude Law and Forest Whitaker as men who repossess artificial body parts when the owners can’t pay the medical bills.
Have scalpel, will travel.
It’s not only a snarky way to address health care reform, but it’s coming out the week ObamaCare hangs in the balance.
It’s only the most recent example of films hitting theaters at rather opportune times.
Michael Moore’s “Capitalism: A Love Story” arrived as the horrors of the Wall Street meltdown were still fresh in mind, and capitalism seemed an easy scapegoat for movie goers.
But this “Love Story” couldn’t match Moore’s previous successes, even if it made more coin ($14 million) than most documentaries.
Last year’s George Clooney dramedy “Up in the Air” also benefited from pinpoint timing. Audiences couldn’t escape all those depressing unemployment figures.
(More below)
The Jason Reitman film focused on a high flying executive (Clooney) who took a certain pride in his job – he fired people for a living.
The film went on to score several key Oscar nominations and hauled in $83 million.
So, zeitgeist films aren’t always a hit at the box office. But if I’m the folks behind “Repo Men,” I’d have to like my odds as ObamaCare reaches a fever pitch.
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I'm an award-winning journalist and film critic with more than a decade of experience in newspapers, magazines and the Web. I'm a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, the Washington, DC Area Film Critics Association and the Denver Film Critics Society.
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I just saw it. I thought it had more to do with the mortgage meltdown than health care. That’s all I could think about while watching it.
Crooked lenders making the real money when interest rates go up. People get so deep in debt, they foreclose and sell the property again and again. (destroying the lives of the borrowers)
Wait, isn’t this the same ground covered by ‘Repo!’ (with singing and Paris Hilton’s face falling off, no less)? Come on folks, just because most of the country hasn’t seen the movie, that doesn’t mean you can blatantly recycle it…
I wonder if there’ll be a plate of shrimp in this movie?
When I first saw the “Repo Men” TV trailer it looked like a gritty comedy. Then I thought, “Maybe Forest Whitaker lost a bet.” Still in the air on that one, but I can’t say I care enough to go see it in a theater!