Alex Cox is no Orson Welles, and 'Repo Man' is no 'Citizen Kane'. Nevertheless, the directors do have something in common: after an attention-grabbing debut, neither of them quite managed to hit the same high mark again, despite offering up a string of interesting failures.
Cox, of course, is still on the go (and the moderately well-received 'Revengers Tragedy' was a return to the spotlight), but it's 'Repo Man' that continues to form the core of his reputation.
Its mix of alien conspiracy theories, car repo noir, consumer society satire and LA punk scene would be a rather self-conscious attempt at securing cult status were it not for the spot-on performances from Harry Dean Stanton and Emilio Estevez.