J.C.V.D.
Directed by: Mabrouk El Mechri
Starring: Jean Claude Van Damme
PLOT: Jean Claude Van Damme the action star (JCVD
plays himself) is having a rough patch. His Agent won’t hook him up with a Studio
flick, he’s about to lose custody of his daughter and he’s out of bread (ie
pognon). Things go from bad to worse when he unwillingly walks into a bank robbery in
progress and is taken hostage.
CRITIQUE: Upon watching the trailer a while
back, I knew that J.C.V.D. was a smart career move for my favorite
Belgium
kickboxer JEAN CLAUDE VAN DAMME. But now that I’ve seen the film, I couldn’t
have imagined how much of a GREAT move it was. JCVD started off with a bang via
a visceral action sequence (Van Damme kicking butt for a film he’s
shooting within the film) that was easily one of the best Van Damme action jamboree since HARD TARGET. We got everything; kicks, gun play, punch fun, knife fight,
flamethrower tomfoolery, a big kaboom and all shot in one IMPRESSIVE continuous
take at that! I was floored! WOW!
Then
the film wound up playing us the audience on four clever and engaging levels. 1-
They’ve taken Van Damme’s real life, his dealings with fans (having one of the
bad guys be a fan led to so many laughs) and media publicized downfalls and
reenacted them here with a penchant on humor. The scene in the courthouse where
the prosecutor lists all of the violent acts found in Van Damme’s films for
example had me in stitches! And we even get a cute little nudge at the old rivalry
that Van Damme and Steven Seagal shared (and maybe still do) when they were on
top of their game. Therefore, if you know Van Damme, his background, his ties to
say John Woo and the aforementioned Steven Seagal, then you’ll be treated to a
couple of cute jokes that only true JCVD fans will get.
2
– We had the film played straight as an entity on its own. Think DOG DAY AFTERNOON by way of PULP FICTION in terms of the back and forth way the narrative unraveled. The
unorthodox method that this story was communicated made for a surprise filled watch
that kept me on my toes. The flick often misled me while playing on my
expectations resulting in a couple of "I didn’t see this coming" turn
of events.
3-
The flick played as “Van Damme’s last laugh”. Via this story of him
playing himself he got the opportunity to showcase the extent of his acting
chops, comic timing and overall charisma. Straight up, Van Damme should maybe
act in French more often (his native language) because he seems much more
comfortable with it. He got to spit out his side of the coin as well. France
has been mocking Van Damme for a while now, poking fun at his infamous “Aware”
speech or his shared with the media philosophies on life. In a ballsy move here,
the movie’s storyline actually halts at a certain point, then Van Damme turns to the camera and
addresses all the hate he’s been getting via a raw and poignant monologue. The
"heartfelt interlude" almost when on for too long, but that thankfully
it ended right on the dot.
Awesome!
Any
negatives to spin kick? Well the flick was more of a drama than a comedy and that’s too bad
because Van Damme has a keen comic timing and I was hoping they’d capitalize on
it more. Moreover they focused more on the fiction aspect of the story than the based on real life stuff. Groovy
footage that I had seen online (like Jean Claude doing yeyo with producers on a
glass table) weren’t present in this final cut and personally, that jive is what
I carved to see the most. Lastly, the lead bad guy got on my nerves at times (nothing
a back-hand couldn’t have solved) and the film had minor pacing issues here and
there; nothing too critical as to the latter point.
On
the whole though, this style heavy (loved the long takes and the randomly semi
surreal cinematography) hit the spot when it came to humor, drama and
originality even when threading on familiar grounds within the “bank
robbery” subgenre. Van Damme earned my respect a long time ago as an action star, I’ve always been a fan of his, even when he didn’t know how to act, JCVD
will hopefully turn non believers into believers – it damn well should! In
my book, with this picture, the man has proven himself 100% as more than a dude
than can throw a mean kick. He’s a multi talented
performer, one to be reckoned with GO JC GO!
RATING: 8/10