By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Mabrouk El Mechri
Starring: François Damiens | Jean-Claude Van Damme | Karim Belkhadra | Zinedine Soualem
Country: belgium, france, luxembourg
Year: 2008
Running time: 96
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1130988/
Michael says: “I wonder who came up with the idea of having aging, C-list, action-star Jean-Claude Van Damme make a film comeback playing himself in a pseudo-action film nearly as self-referential as BEING JOHN MALKOVICH. Was it a producer trying to capitalize on a former headliner’s name? The writer/director who just came up with a nifty idea and shopped around until he found the guy to play his lead? Or Van Damme himself, trying to revitalize his career, or prove that he could actually act? Whoever came up with it, it’s a pretty good idea and a pretty good movie, although occasionally I felt that the idea was better than the actual execution.
“Jean-Claude Van Damme is getting too old to play a martial arts star in direct-to-video action films that no one even sees anymore. He is still in great shape, but the combat sequences he used to do without blinking now have a wearing affect on his body. He is in a nasty custody battle over his daughter. He is broke. When he gets mixed up in a robbery that turns into a hostage situation, he finds himself caught between the actual thieves – one ruthless, one indifferent, and one a fan, and the police, who mistakenly believe that he is one of the criminals, it becomes clear that fancy combat moves work better on film than in real life. During a tense situation he makes a poor decision regarding ransom that will have ramifications that go beyond the current situation. He is also given time to reflect on his life and actually show his acting chops (whether he had them all along, or developed them over time is a question, but he does a good job in this film.)
“I had a little trouble with JCVD because it is actually more of an action film than I was expecting. While it pokes fun at the hyper-violent combat films that once made Van Damme a star, it also acknowledges the actor’s past fan base by constructing a film that clings to that genre’s conventions. It uses an inventive, time-jumping structure that keeps the story engaging and breaks away from the tension of the hostage situation keeping the story on the lighter side. It also comments archly on the nature of fame and fortune, and what it means to be a movie star. I have no idea if Jean-Claude Van Damme will ever make another ‘serious’ movie again, but at least he made this one; showing that he could do more than kick a cigarette out of a guy’s mouth. 3 cats”