Review courtesy Tyson Huber, DVD Examiner @ examiner.com.
Jean-Claude Van Damme. The man is not completely lacking success in the movie department, but since the early 90’s he has gradually declined into straight-to-DVD B Action Movie “stardom” (at best). It has been 15 years since what is considered to be his last successful movie (Timecop, 1994) and it’s safe to say Van Damme has been through the ringer since then; he went from a budding action star to, at one point, being homeless in LA for a time. No one may have seen it coming, and maybe he had to hit bottom before it happened, but it appears it was only a matter of time before Van Damme actually made a legitmitely good movie.
JCVD is an anomaly in that it’s a crime-drama and Van Damme’s personal memoir about his life all in one. Jean-Claude Van Damme plays Jean-Claude Van Damme, a “character” based on himself who, while trying to start a new life in Brussels, gets caught up in a post office robbery and hostage situation, and the worst part is that the police think he is actually the culprit. He quickly realizes that this is not one of his action movies, it’s real life, and while he really is a trained black-belt, there is a big difference between the two.
Throughout the course of the film we experience some of Van Damme’s hardships via flash-backs; his custody battle for his daughter, trying to get picked up to a studio film in LA, and facing the reality that he is an aging B movie action star. It feels like an intimate portrait into his life and for possibly the first time in any movie he’s ever made, we actually care about this “character” he is portraying.
The crime-drama portion of the movie is gritty and realistic enough to avoid ever crossing the line into mimicking one of the action films he’s most famous for. There is a good mix of tension and comedy to keep the film moving at a steady pace and Van Damme is not afraid to poke fun of himself; at one point losing a role in a movie to Steven Seagal only because Seagal agreed to “cut off his pony tail for the first time” for the movie. There’s a point towards the end of the film, while still being held hostage in the post office, when the film actually breaks away from itself; it’s at this point that JCVD delivers it’s most powerful moments.
The set falls away, you can see lighting fixtures and equipment just above the set in the background and Jean-Claude just talks to the camera, breaking the movie’s fourth wall, delivering a powerful monologue, “I asked for it, really believed in it. When you’re thirteen you believe in your dream. Well, it came true for me. But I still ask myself what have I done on this Earth? Nothing! I have done nothing!” For almost 6 1/2 minutes Van Damme talks about his life, his multiple marriages and their demise, his estranged children, the debt, the substance abuse, and his career. As Van Damme tears up he catches you off guard and gives you no choice but to see this action star in a new light before lowering him back into his own movie.
The film itself wraps up pretty quickly from there with a satisfying and creative ending to the hostage situation, comparing JCVD to previous films he’s done. The flash-forward and the resulting impacts Jean Claude faces from being implicated in the robbery/hostage situation is slightly baffling, but is quickly forgotten in the touching final scene. The biggest fault in the movie is the soundtrack, save for the final track in the film. It tends to be cheesy at times and almost mimic that of a low-budget 80’s crime drama to the point that it becomes distracting on a few instances and taking away from the mood.
The special features on the DVD might leave some with something to be desired as they are simply two deleted scenes and the trailer, but one might argue that it might have been redundant to have any sort of commentary on a movie already based so closely on Van Damme himself. There really isn’t much more that could be said about the movie on a commentary tack, nor in any behind-the-scenes featurettes.
Jcvd is out now on DVD and is definitely worth checking out.