JCVD - Rob

If you, like me, didn't realize Jean-Claude Van Damme was back, well...he's back. Or at least he was in 2008 when he came out with the eponymous JCVD. If you're wondering: yes, those are his badass Belgian initials.

What you probably remember about Van Damme is Street Fighter, Lionheart, and best of all: Bloodsport. He had a respectable mullet for the time and he beat the crap out of a lot bad guys. He also hooked it with some hot 80s chicks and did other cool stuff. And then, as far as I can tell, he disappeared. IMDb tells me that he has actually made a bunch of movies in this decade, but for all intents and purposes I think it's safe to say he's no longer a Hollywood star.

And that's where this film begins: JCVD, playing himself--a washed-up, has-been Hollywood actor--has lost a custody battle for his daughter, is doing lame movies, and doesn't have any money. Stopping in at a post office to transfer some funds, he happens upon a robbery in progress, and then things go crazy. Not kick-out crazy. Just unlucky crazy. Because he was seen going into the building, the police assume he's the assailant...ergo, we have a movie on our hands.

The film is mostly in French, so I can't honestly tell if JCVD is a good actor, though certainly his role is that of a proper actor and not simply an action star. The film is very European and, while the bad guy is uber creepy, I think it makes a point to avoid the gratuitous marks of a Hollywood flick. In fact, JCVD does very, very little fighting. And there's this really impressive soliloquy by JCVD that mirrors the opening scene a bit...he speaks candidly about his career and Hollywood and what it is like being JCVD. In that super-meta way, the film works. Whether JCVD is playing Jean-Claude Van Damme, or the character JCVD, is another question. But the scene itself is though-provoking and feels very honest. You certainly see what a tired, beaten man looks like even when he used to be one of the greatest action stars in the world.

The end is not a JCVD ending either, but I think it works. It definitely raises questions of justice and equity, real life vs. the movies. This flick is interesting. Not a must see by any stretch, but interesting if only for the ideas it raises.

If that's not your style, if you'd rather just see JCVD crush some people, go watch Bloodsport.