Theres been a rash of movies, especially lately, where the hero of the picture is a washed-up-old veteran, wanting one more shot at glory. He was always the best at what he did, whether he was a soldier, a boxer, a cop, or a cowboy, but somehow time passed him by, and now he has to struggle to somehow get his former notoriety back. Whether were talking about Rocky Balboa, The Wrestler, Live Free or Die Hard or even Unforgiven, usually this hero gets one last shot to prove himself, and for better or worse, we get to see him transform into his former self, even if its just for a moment. While this group of movies usually revolves around a particular action hero, like Rambo or Indiana Jones, Ive never seen a movie that actually revolved around the actor that played those heroes; that is, until JCVD.
While some might see the movie as a vanity project for its star, Jean-Claude Van Damme, JCVD ends up a fascinating crime movie that manages to blend fact and fiction, and ends up a bit of a personal triumph for the “Muscles from Brussels” in a way that his victories in Bloodsport and Hard Target never really were. In the movie Van Damme plays himself as a down-and-out action star, no longer respected outside of his native Belgium, not even by his agent or by his own child. Fighting to keep his daughter in a custody case that is going south, Van Damme is out of money when he stops into a bank to try and get a wire transfer, and walks right into a hostage situation. Unfortunately because of miscommunication, the police think it is actually Van Damme who is robbing the bank.
Now if you think it would be impossible for the star of Double Impact, Double Team, and seemingly dozens of “Straight to DVD” action movies to be able to carry this movie, then youre in for a big surprise. Not only does Van Damme carry this film on his back, but the star gives a stunningly raw and nuanced performance, full of humor, sadness and regret over many of his real life decisions and the many paths his career has taken him. Blurring the line between reality and fantasy, Van Damme pours out his soul in one monologue, tear streaked while talking about his drug addiction and hollow fame. For a man who has often been seen negatively for his lack of talent onscreen and his lack of graciousness off of it, this outburst of screen sincerity is heartbreaking and makes you see the man in a whole different light.
On top of Van Damme giving the performance of his life, Director Mabrouk El Mechri stages a pretty clever little crime story. Taking references from everything whether it be Dog Day Afternoon, the works of Jean-Luc Godard or the screenplays of Charlie Kaufman, the non-linear story manages to never really get too harrowing and the light touch really works well to keep the movie pretty fun, even as the star is able to show off his craft like never before. Theres even a terrific throwback sequence to start the picture, as Jean-Claude moves through a pretty awesome one shot take featuring some pretty old-school heroics, shooting and fighting his way through bad guys until the whole sequence falls apart under the weight of its ridiculousness.
Also, there are some pretty wonderful exchanges in the film between Van Damme and one of the bank robbers named Arthur (Karim Belkhadra), who spends the whole film star struck to be in the presence of the action star. One particularly funny sequence has Van Damme reluctantly showing off his moves for the gunman, while Arthur tries to match them with disastrous results. Even better is another scene that has Van Damme defending John Woo, while his newfound friend berates the director for not furthering the stars career. In the end, this connection is an oddly touching one, and again allows Van Damme to show his humanity in a way that Kickboxer or Universal Soldier were never able to.
If the movie does have a big fault, its probably the pacing. Even at about 96 minutes, El Mechri stretches the movie out a bit too long in places, and the other two bank robbers may come off as a little too much like low-rent Hans Grubers. While the villains may seem a little more realistic by showing off their more sadistic side, it doesnt really ring true with the rest of the movies tone. Still, the pro that he is, Van Damme never goes into full action mode here, and manages to even things out by keeping things on a human level as much as possible.
Now, this wasnt the best performance of 2008 and claims that Van Damme deserved an Oscar may have been way overblown, but I will say that few performances Ive seen recently have really been able to shock me the way this one has. Much like Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler, Van Damme reveals a side of himself that weve never really seen before onscreen, and by tapping into his own personal struggles were able to empathize with his problems in a way that just wasnt possible prior to this movie. Maybe he was never to able elevate his action star career to the level of Arnold Schwarzenegger, but JCVD gives Van Damme the chance to flex his dramatic muscles in a way that runs circles around most the work done by his action movie contemporaries, outside of maybe the more earnest performances of Sylvester Stallone or Bruce Willis. Im not sure if JCVDis able to fully make up for Street Fighter, but its a testament to this eye opening performance to say it comes awfully close.
This is a pretty terrific Blu-ray print on this disc from Peace Arch Home Entertainment, as the image is gorgeously crisp while preserving the kind of sepia toned look of the movie. The movie never gets too dark or processed, and the image resolution and detail is terrific.
The same goes for the sound on the disc, which stays uniformly great throughout the picture. Dialogue is never a problem and never gets drowned out by any soundtrack problems.
Deleted Scenes – You get about five minutes of deleted footage, none of which is very substantial.
Trailers – You get trailers for this film and one other on the disc.
JCVD is a movie that completely delivers on its hype, and Van Dammes performance in the movie is a simply a thing of beauty. For fans that have followed his career from the beginning, this film is almost a love letter to you, as the film gives you the performance you always knew this actor could give, but was never really given the chance to until now. The disc itself is a disappoint in the extras department, but the movie looks fantastic and is worth the purchase for the film presentation.
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Peace Arch Home Entertainment presents JCVD. Directed by: Mabrouk El Mechri. Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, François Damiens, Zinedine Soualem, and Karim Belkhadra. Written by: Frédéric Benudis and Mabrouk El Mechri. Running time: 96 Mins[/b[. Rating: [b]R. Released on Blu-ray: April 28, 2009. Available at Amazon.com
