JCVD

2008 "The Biggest Fight of His Life!"
7.1| 1h36m| R| en| More Info
Released: 04 June 2008 Released
Producted By: Gaumont
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Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Between his tax problems and his legal battle with his wife for the custody of his daughter, these are hard times for the action movie star who finds that even Steven Seagal has pinched a role from him! This fictionalized version of Jean-Claude Van Damme returns to the country of his birth to seek the peace and tranquility he can no longer enjoy in the United States, but inadvertently gets involved in a bank robbery with hostages.

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Reviews

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.
Stellead Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful
BallWubba Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.
AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
adonis98-743-186503 Jean-Claude Van Damme gets involved in a bank robbery with hostages situation and reflects about his life during it. I never really understood why this movie is ranked higher than most Van Damme movies but also why it's got so many great reviews to begin with. It was pretty damn boring but also cheesy and stupid and most of the 'comedic' parts? Hardly even worked for me. If you wanna see the better version of JCVD? Go and watch 'Jean Claude Van Johnson' is a better project in pretty much every shape and form than this garbage fire. (0/10)
cinemajesty "JCVD" gives homage to the actor Jean-Claude Van Damme, who's career kicked off in 1988 with an action movie called "Bloodsport". The film produced in season 2007/2008 in the actor's originated area Belgium has been given an art-house touch by director Mabrouk El Mechri, who is having fun with the written material, but is unable to make any statement that would stick with the audience after the movie runs out. In that sense the film stays a visual collage of arranged sequences in which the lead takes reminiscence to his past movies and signature action moves. Anything further in the script as sub themes from a custody court drama to a bank hostage situation is forgettable. The cinematographer wants to be innovative as Emmanuel Lubezki's orchestrated urban war sequence in "Children of Men" (2006) but only falls flat with no immersive push ins. So everything whats left of an indecisively directed wanna-be art-house film is the performance of Jean-Claude Van Damme, who uses the loosely connected scenes to show some personal character insides beyond the usual physical action.
spelvini It's too bad about ol' John-Claude- all his movies go direct to DVD for release, and when he gets a shot at something edgy, like JCVD, it's so far round the bend that the viewer can't latch on to enjoy the ride.There are more than a few problems with JCVD, starting with a narrative that from the start diverts our attentions and gets us off balance by starting mid-stream in a story involving a post office heist gone bad, and utilizing a Rashomon-like technique, ostensibly to elucidate truth.Other problems involve casting, and story, each of which is sub-par to the extent that the story-telling technique only serves to highlight the problems in the narrative rather than lift it to a higher level.Stories that have no particular depth should not be exposed. Rather than show more of how a bad story functions, it's better to cover up glitches in the narrative with explosions or struggles, or chase scenes. JCVD has little of these to raise the stakes and create tension, and ultimately the dismantling of the narrative into different points of view only serves to show off this deficiency.As far as characters go JCVD stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as a character named Jean-Claude Van Damme, a character with family problems including a custody suit involving his daughter. The problem is that Jean-Claude Van Damme is not as interesting as the characters he plays. Jean-Claude Van Damme the character is not invested in the problems he faces like a bad film-acting career, and custody battle, so the issues involving the heist don't involve us dynamically on an emotional level and this is what the film needs to stay alive.Actors who play themselves are only interesting when they are in interesting stories. Films like Being John Malkovich, or A Hard Day's Night rise above the usual because the persons playing themselves are also interesting people, so their characterization of themselves as iconic figures makes sense as it comments on the cultural aspect of the person. Jean Claude Van Damn has little irony associated with himself.When an interesting dramatic moment arises, ironically as JC himself physically rises to the occasion, we are taken out of the scene and out of the picture, and this breaking of the forth wall leaves us out in the cold. Jean-Claude's big moment is an emotional landmark for the actor, showing him as a performer who can invest himself completely in his craft. The ultimate problem taints his performance however by not allowing the viewer to be swept into the emotional landscape of the actor's craft.The movie leaves a bad feeling in the aftermath of what amounts to the real-life person/character navigating his world, and this fuzziness isn't much of a payoff after 90 minutes of screen time.
MBunge This film justifies the entire career of Jean-Claude Van Damme. All the crappy movies. All the tabloid nonsense. All the personal excesses. Without it, this movie could not exist. You couldn't make it with Stallone or Schwarzenegger. You couldn't make it with Seagal or Norris or even Dolph Lundgren. Van Damme had to exist in exactly the way he existed for this motion picture to be made. It's a great story. Too bad the storytelling isn't.As you might guess from the title, Van Damme plays himself as an aging action star reduced to starring in idiotic crap. He's losing custody of his daughter. He's running out of money. His chance at a comeback is going to Steven Seagal. On a return home to Belgium, Van Damme gets caught up in a bank robbery at a post office. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. I guess in Belgium the post offices are also banks or wire transfer stations like Western Union. Anyway, the authorities think Van Damme is the one robbing the place and keeping the people in the post office hostage. That gives the three real robbers inside the idea of making Van Damme play that part as they try to figure how to get the hell out of there. As the post office is surrounded by the police and the police is surrounded by the media and the media is surrounded by cheering Van Damme fans, a man who really was an international movie star has to find a way through almost surrealistic circumstances and come out alive on the other side.JCVD is an odd duck in that it is an absolute must watch without truly being a great motion picture. Let me get into why that is before gushing over everything else. This film looks, feels and even sounds too stylish. The subject matter and the performance of Van Damme is simultaneously raw and complex and needed to be presented in a gritty, unadorned way. Yet both the structure of the script and the visual style of director Mabrouk El Mechri is too flashy and works too hard at being clever. From a non-linear plot to title cards breaking the story into segments to an overly theatrical killing, JCVD too often seems more like a conventional action thriller or some pretentious art house flick instead of a brutally frank examination of a fallen star. Maybe mimicking a Tarantino-like comeback vehicle for Van Damme was an attempt to add another layer of "meta-ness" to the whole production. If so, it was one layer too many.For example, the highlight of the film is this tremendous monologue from Van Damme about his whole life and the things that animated his rise and then his decline. His performance throughout the movie is incredible and this monologue is his spectacular peak. But instead of having the monologue take place within the confines of the story, Van Damme is literally elevated up out of a scene into the overhead lighting, where he talks directly into the camera. It's a phenomenal bit of acting, and not just because of the low standards Van Damme has set, but it totally shatters the sense of reality the rest of the narrative hangs on.It's too bad because this is a near brilliant narrative that pits the truth of Van Damme (in the context of this fictional representation of his life) vs. his own self-image vs. the image others project onto him. It depicts the irrational appeal and the impossible demands of celebrity. It makes you feel sympathy for someone who's been vastly more successful than you and then foolishly wasted all that opportunity. It is a profoundly sad story, every more sadly being told by people more interested in looking "cool".If you've ever loved, liked, hated or mocked Jean-Claude Van Damme, you need to see this movie. If you want to see the mythology of the action star deconstructed before you eyes, you need to see this movie. If you want to see a much derided performer prove he honestly deserved his time in the spotlight, you need to see this movie. I don't think I've ever seen another film as well made as this where I so deeply wish the filmmakers had made different creative choices. Believe the hype. JCVD is that good.