Review of JCVD (2008) by B M — 04 Apr 2010

It's passable as a bank heist/drama flick, but is more memorable for a fine performance from Van Damme.

No, that isn't joke, and it's also no longer an oxymoron. Van Damme shows surprising depth playing the role of...himself.

It's weird to see the real human being behind the one-dimensional he-man mask he has donned his entire career. Instead of an action flick, we get a noteworthy self-satire. There are no ridiculous stuns, sonic booms, and he doesn't punch a snake in the face or surf on a motorcycle while raining hot lead onto rapidly escaping gangsters (see: Hard Target).

Instead, the viewer develops sympathy once it becomes apparent that the real Van Damme not unlike the average person; he struggles with family and financial issues like everybody else. The wall that protected and made him untouchable in his movies is thoroughly torn down here, and the story illustrates just how achingly aware Van Damme is of his glaring failures in regards to his personal goals as an actor, and of his risible, if ironically endearing, persona.

Watching this film will change the way you view this aging action hero. I garnered a new respect (read: I respect him for the first time ever) for the man behind the legend after experiencing this, and I hope this leads to a resurgence of his career where he can finally be the actor he wants to be.