Review of JCVD (2008) by Marilyn T — 04 Apr 2010

At first I thought JCVD was going to be a kind of documentary, but it turned out to be a shorter Dog Day Afternoon with biographical bits of Van Damme's life. His problems money, low-budget films, and custody battle for his kids are compounded by a few criminals trying to rob a post office-bank on the same day Van Damme needed to make a money transfer.

There's a good amount of action and one amazing and suprisingly emotional monologue by Van Damme as he reflects on his fame, drug addiction, family problems, and money issues. I was a fab of early Van Damme movies like Bloodsport and Lionheart, but even if I wasn't, this movie still stands on its own as a respectable quasi-fictional look at an action star's life in the limelight and all the baggage that came with that fame.