Reviews of JCVD
Displaying all 6 reviews
MR. Universe
3Jul11
This is a foreign film mainly in french.
This film has vivid Cinematography. Great but few action sequences. The film is like a action hybrid of DOG DAY AFTERNOON and BEING JOHN MALKOVICH. Notice i didn’t call the film action packed. The film sets a claustrophobic tone with dark comedy thrown in.
Jena Claude Van-Damme Plays himself or at least a warped version of himself that touchon some truths about him in the real world. He is going through a custody battle in the flashbacksof this film. Most of the rest of the film is true other then the plot which is a heist scenerio where Jean Calude goes into a bank just when it is being robbed and thanks to much confusion. Though he is a hostage Everyone outside the bank believes he is the leader of the bank robbers. The mastermind. While the other hostages expect him to come through and be the hero. One of the bank robbers is a huge fan of his work. He keeps wanting to hear stories and teach him martial arts.
This is probably the deepest we are ever going to get out of van-damme. For one glorious scene a Monologue that comes out of nowhere he let’s his guard down and let’s us see the personal side of him. It’s penetrating as for most of the film he has a good sense of humor about himself and the state of his career. Those expecting to see a drama are going to be disappointed. he shows range but not too much. I mean he’s playing himself. This film more fits his sensabilities Though not full blown action film. The action sequences are pretty tight.
This is a fun movie to watch. Though it is not entirely succesful in it’s intentions. The film almost comes close to satire but comes out more as a action Dramedy.
The film was originally more supposed to be a comedy, but the director was brought in to rewrite the project since they already had Jean-Claude Van damme. He asked to meet Van Damme so he could come up with a better story to really show off Van Dammes passion and personality. He Let Van Damme Decide when to cut the scene. In fact most of Van Damme’s dialogue is ab-libbed as the other actors in the film are scripted. Mostly VanDamme was directed to just react. The film is 70% scripted 30% improvised.
The monologue scene was filmed seperately from the rest of the movie. Van damme is apparently a shy person and as the monologue was personal and no one will actually talk about what it was in reference to.
It’s a good rental even if you are not a fan of his. It will make you look at him in a different way. This film is a part artistic statement and a attempt at a comeback.
GRADE: C+
- Currently 3.0/5 Stars.
Don't Get Nasty Brother
6Sep10
Yo todavía no me lo termino de creer, y a pesar de tener tiempo leyendo reseñas que la daban como una verdadera revelación, no fue si no hasta que por fin pude ver la última película de Jean-Claude Van Damme que lo constaté, lo que ya es casi que un mantra a lo largo de muchos sitios en internet: ¡Jean-Claude Van Damme ha vuelto!.
Y de que forma. Si, están leyendo bien, aquí en el Cinescopio también se habla de Jean-Claude Van Damme, o por lo menos lo hago yo que no temo reconocer que muchas de sus películas me entretuvieron en su momento (y algunas todavía lo siguen haciendo).
Sin embargo todos crecemos, incluso Van Damme quien a pesar de ser una estrella venida a menos, haciendo un sin número de películas que han ido directo a distribución en video, ha encontrado por fin lo que parece ser su lugar, su redención, su renacimiento. Vamos que Mickey Rourke no es el único que ha regresado de entre los muertos.
JCVD (2008), dirigida magistralmente por el hasta ahora desconocido Mabrouk El Mechri, quien también escribe la pieza. Es una sátira sobre la vida de una megaestrella de cine: Van Damme que debe enfrentar problemas acumulados por años de excesos con drogas, deudas de dinero y una batalla legal por la custodia de su hija.
Y si, todo esta basado de alguna forma en momentos de la vida de Van Damme quien estuvo mucho tiempo luchando con una adicción a la cocaína, huyendo de problemas por no pagar impuestos, y estuvo un largo tiempo tratando de mantener una custodia compartida de su hija Bianca.
Pero no es sólo es el caracter de pseudo-documental lo que hace a esta película excepcionalmente entretenida, es la mezcla de géneros que ocurre durante todo el metraje. De la comedia más ligera (atención a las referencias a Steven Seagal, John Woo, etc.) al drama más lacrimógeno que he visto en mucho tiempo (Atención al monólogo que se lanza Van Damme a mitad de película). Esto es un biopic con picante.
Todo el mundo habla de la resurreción de MIckey Rourke, yo tendria que decir Van Damme también lo ha hecho, pero no solo eso sino que también ha renacido porque definitivamente nos encontramos ante un actor que nunca habiamos visto tras casi 20 años de peliculas de acción y artes marciales.
La verdad no quiero revelar mucho de la trama. La película es una montaña rusa, esta fotografiada de manera espectacular, la narración y el guión son de lo mejor que he visto en mucho tiempo, todo cuadra…los demas actores estan a la justa medida y termina de manera satisfactoria.
La verdad una de las mejores películas que he visto en lo que va de año, aunque esta era del año pasado así que la vi tarde…
Nota: ¿Van Damme y MIckey Rourke no aparecieron en una película?, claro…Double Team o La Colonia…como olvidarla…también “actuaba” Dennis Rodman. Que cosas no…
- Currently 4.0/5 Stars.
mina
9Sep09
Stylistically this film was a little bit strange to me, particularly the colour palette, but it’s almost a moot point given the wonderful conceit of the film and the full commitment of JCVD to play a version of himself that might not be far from the truth.
The movie is funny and entertaining at many points up to the confessional, when it explodes into an amazingly honest moment between the viewers and JCVD. A great moment.
- Currently 3.0/5 Stars.
Mugino
12Aug09
Not everyone can act, but I’ve always been a staunch believer that even the weakest performers will flourish in proportion to the quality of the material they’ve been given and the amount of faith placed on them to collaborate and deliver. JCVD’s monologue scene is proof of that. People laugh when I tell them Van Damme moved me; I suppose that is the true test of this film — are you still laughing AT him or WITH him by the end?
- Currently 4.0/5 Stars.
Jake Howell
3Jul09
Jean-Claude Van Damme may be the LAST person in the world you’d expect to be a superlative model of postmodernity, but in JCVD he goes all John Malkovich with a swift kick to his critics and a respectful nod to his fans.
Van Damme plays himself, or at least a bitterer version of himself. He stars in mindless action movies just for the paycheck, acknowledging how bad they are while still depending on the roles for the money. While visiting his hometown of Brussels, Van Damme stumbles into the middle of a bank heist. Confused police officers outside the bank mistake him as one of the robbers and insist he release his hostages. Onlookers outside the bank who still consider Van Damme a hometown hero, however, cheer him on.
Inside the bank, Van Damme appeases the robbers by to showing them roundhouse kicks and signing autographs for them while his fellow hostages expect him to be more like the action star he is in all his movies; a brave martial arts master who can easily dismantle the thieves and save the day. Van Damme is more like them, though. He’s afraid of what the thieves may do to him. They force Van Damme to make phone calls as the real robber to the police with their demands.
Van Damme, however, remains generally calm throughout the robbery. In fact, he doesn’t seem to mind the scenario all that much. With a broken marriage, a downtrodden career, a nasty custody battle and an American reputation overshadowed by Steven Seagal, what does he really have waiting for him outside the bank? At least here the people view him as a hero, and the people outside seem to be on his team. All this is topped off by a self-loathing, self-aware monologue he delivers straight to the camera that makes Charlie Kaufman look like Alain Badiou.
While this final speech seems a bit contrived, the film is overall funny, heartfelt and surprisingly touching, and I don’t think Steven Seagal has ever made anything like that.
- Currently 3.0/5 Stars.
jaredmobarak
9Jun09
People who know my film tastes can tell you that my favorite movies are those that stray off the beaten path. Film’s that break the fourth wall and involve me as the viewer in the actual plotline always seem to hit the right spot. Chalk up JCVD as another great entry to that style of filmmaking, but also understand that there is a lot more going for it than just being experimental and unafraid to be abnormal. Not only does Jean-Claude Van Damme give possibly his best performance ever—I mean really, really good—but he does so playing a character that is so much like his real life self you would believe this to be an autobiography if you didn’t know better. How director Mabrouk El Mechri talked him into agreeing to this format, I don’t know, but thankfully he did. As an entertaining thriller, bank heist flick it succeeds in spades. However, you should look deeper and see the form of catharsis it must have instilled in Van Damme, finally being able to set the record straight about the women, the money, and the drugs. Complete with a heartfelt monologue that doubles as a prayer to God from JCVD and a plea to the public from Van Damme himself that he has turned his life around, this is just fantastic cinema.
El Mechri has some flair to his work and makes the proceedings exciting. The story is told out of order, with good reason, and broken up with title cards of quotes, (“the stone falls on the egg … the egg breaks” and “the egg falls on the stone … the egg breaks” for example), just remember them because they do become part of the dialogue before the end. And talk about starting with a bang; the entire opening credit sequence is one long take, choreographed to perfection, of Van Damme wreaking havoc on bad guys, kicking them into car windows and saving a hostage. An impressive feat for anyone, let alone a 47-year old action star, it ends very tongue-in-cheek, with a flub followed by an upstart foreign director ignoring his star, wondering why he thinks they are making the next Citizen Kane. Between this moment and the few scenes involving his agent, the satire on Hollywood and its money marketing is handled quite well. Better even than a film like What Just Happened, whose main focus was just that. You really begin to feel for Van Damme and the pressures that brought him back to Belgium after leaving so long ago. A washed up has-been here in the states; he is still the idol of many back in his homeland.
You must give the star a ton of credit for leaving it all out there for this performance. To have to pretty much reenact the courtroom drama of trying to get his daughter’s custody must have been very trying, if not also easy to bring up the emotions necessary to make the scenes work. His utter disgust on how the films he made and the fake violence he inflicted was used against him when it was those same two things that supported his family is there for all to see. Here he is, in a rush to make the post office/bank to wire money so he can retain his attorney, and getting out of his cab still takes the time to pose for photos at a local video store. Despite everything, here is a genuinely kind man, someone who admits to not wanting to have to apologize for his success, for his dream as a thirteen year old coming true. He worked hard and he made it to the top, but sometimes fame can destroy too. A wonderful scene in the cab, talking to the driver shows this very perceptively. Here he is, a tired man who hasn’t slept in two days wanting to rest in the backseat and he gets called rude because the driver is a fan. If he wasn’t a star, his request would have been acknowledged, but for some reason fans feel entitled to a star treating them with “respect”. Maybe there is truth to that, but honestly, it is we the public doing so that makes celebrities so reviled. Our intrusiveness makes them mean and spiteful; we’ve created the monsters.
There is a lot of humor mixed in with the action and suspense. The whole premise revolves around the robbery of a post office/bank for which the police believe JCVD is the perpetrator. As such, the entire city comes out in support of their hero—signs saying “Free Van Damme”—and the police commissioner, played nicely by François Damiens, tries to use the celebrity in his favor. By getting his lawyer on the phone and bringing his parents down to the scene, things start spiraling out of control inside. Things are not always as they seem, however, shown by the repetition of scenes. What is first viewed from the outside of the post office, the start of a robbery while police arrive, becomes completely different when shown again later from the inside, following JCVD as he attempts to get his money wired to Los Angeles.
The medium of film is utilized to its fullest capabilities in this way. We are able to see things multiple times, from differing vantage points; we are allowed a moment alone with the star as he takes himself out of the movie and enters reality in a brilliantly subtle way, raising right out of frame until he’s on level with the stage lights; and we are even shown a scene in Van Damme’s mind, a dream sequence played out before the film rewinds itself and portrays what really happened. Hollywood may love the happy endings of heroes beating all odds and saving the day, but unfortunately real life is never so forgiving. However, despite the cynical way in which the whole ordeal ends, El Mechri does allow for one last moment of heart, completing the film with a sense of quasi-redemption and allowing Van Damme’s catharsis an end he may hopefully see outside of the movies too.
- Currently 4.0/5 Stars.