What is JCVD? No, it’s not a European digital video format. It’s an art house movie starring Jean Claude Van Damme. Oh boy, I feel like I’m chasing away two different movie crowds. He really can act and takes an emotional beating in this drama about his career slump. His action movies also take a punch — right to the groin — making JCVD a darkly funny tale.
Someone have mercy on Jean Claude Van Damme or at least this caricature of him. At age 47, Van Damme's action movies are a life-long punishment he can’t escape. Acting is his livelihood and nowadays he has to compete with Steven Seagal in the direct-to-video market. Even his greedy agent doesn’t care about saving his career. Worst of all, he lost custody of his daughter because of his violent films. Returning to his hometown of Brussels, Belgium, he finds out he’s flat broke. He walks into a bank to beg for a loan and, minutes later, shots ring out. Soon a crowd of press, fans, and police mass outside. Is Van Damme desperate? Has he lost his mind?
What follows isn’t a loony farce or a martial arts film. It’s about a martial artist turned actor who’s trapped by a star persona which is killing his personal life, his career, and his body. This movie version of Van Damme reminds me of the fictional comedian Bob Harris from Lost in Translation. But Van Damme’s not apathetic about his life, he wants out but no one is listening.
From the beginning, director Mabrouk El Mechri peels back the image of the Muscles. We meet Van Damme shooting an incredibly long fight sequence. It’s totally fabricated with punches that don’t land and extras who line up to be whacked down. Part of the set collapses and the wheezing actor pleads with the director to break the scene into separate shots and not force him to redo everything.
No better are his fans, who rank him above regular citizens. “He introduced John Woo to America. What have you done?” a Quentin Tarantino-ish video clerk asks an old lady. They command Van Damme to perform for their entertainment. He must high-kick a cigarette out of another person’s mouth like he did many years ago. A shrew-like taxi driver tells him to shut up so she can imagine him like one of his characters. When it comes to the main bank robbery story, it’s easy for everyone assume he’s gone OJ Simpson on them. The public loves a celebrity criminal.
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