JCVD

The shear number of Jean Claude Van Damme movies I saw in my formative years is in retrospect embarrassing. Not just that I watched them (some more than once) but that I can vividly recall details from them. I'm just as guilty of watching far too many Steven Segal movies. But in my defense when you're a kid, there really isn't much better than shooting guns and beating people up. Now that is/was entertainment. I think my tastes have become more refined in the interim. Although as one can see I occasionally just enjoy a mindless fun action film. So a strange curiosity rolled up on me when I heard of the film JCVD. And a handful of at least mildly positive reviews encouraged this curiosity.

JCVD is a fiction film about Jean Claude Van Damme. Aging, not getting as many choice roles anymore, struggling for custody of his daughter, Van Damme returns to his native Belgium and soon finds himself in a bank robbery and hostage crisis. I won't say much more than that regarding the plot because there are some spoilers if I do, not that the turns of this film are not fairly obvious from the beginning. Still a great deal of the film cuts back and forth between the present and recent past showing how he would up in a post office/bank.

It isn't a great film by any means. Even when its acknowledging Hollywood action movies it also tends to mimic them verbatim. If you watch the movie and are surprised by anything I'll be shocked. But what is for the most part enjoyable and interesting, is Van Damme's introspective portrayal of himself. Sure he may not seem like the most fascinating actor to get this treatment but in reality a B movie actor who never gained the superstardom he sought and except as a joke doesn't have much of a real fan following either, its quite interesting and I sort of enjoyed the ride.