JCVD: Movie Review

Looking Forward To Universal Soldier III...

If you were as psyched to see this movie like I was let me go ahead and give you a pat on the back.

For me this year has been kind of lackluster as far as movie-going goes. The fact that most studios and production companies refuse to release their 'avant-garde' or 'thinky flicks' at a more steady pace during the year has to infuriate film enthusiast [right?]. A large majority of movies with depth or film festival darlings all get dumped around the December-January time frame for their respective nominations. JCVD will more than likely not get one. It is a movie with a great heart [on paper], but ultimately casting and inconsistent direction sours a rare, but decent Jean-Claude Van Damme performance.

Will Probably Be Known As The "JCVD-Soliloquy"

I'll hop into the meat & potatoes of this film. Above is a screen of what could only be described as the hammiest [but heartfelt] soliloquy ever. From what I have read online apparently this aside was almost entirely improvised which for JCVD, is a good thing. After this very long and somewhat uncomfortable scene you come away with this new view of what happens to people like Van Damme. People who are optimistic in their perspective field and are naive to the type of people who work in this utopia one may build for themselves. This scene and just about all others are what will make this movie for you.  Van Damme is speaking in his loudest voice by playing a subdued, haggard wash-out that has barely made it to the other side of a tumultuous storm.

Within this majorally French movie; filmed in Brussels [JCVD's hometown], you the viewer are parsing what is real and what is fake in Jean Claude's life. His character is trying to bounce back from: drug and alcohol abuse, a divorce that is seperating him from his daughter and depleting his funds and what seems to be the focal point of the film, Jean Claude wants to be seen as a serious actor. As far as my JCVD fandom goes, this was; at some point, very real occurrences in his very real life.

Great premise and the stage is set for Van Damme to play. This is the part where everyone in the gallery has their ripe tomatoes ready to fling, correct? I never thought I would be typing this, but he's brilliant. Jean Claude isn't reinventing the wheel, buy pulling off this 'Being John Malkcovich' act. Wherein, we have an actor giving the audience a stellar performance, but ultimately the actor was 'acting like themselves'. Not a stretch, but within that space, still pretty unique and nuanced.

Let's Hope We'll See This Cast Again In A Better Space

Though there are some really brilliantly shot scenes where you don't want to take your eyes away from the screen, the first scene of the movie [most notably] was a long, really well timed action sequence that will probably the most credit I will give director Mabrouk El Mechri.  The movie stumbles between being a great one-man performance in Van Damme and what seems to be a poorly stiched together comedy-heist action movie.  Did no one tell El Mechri that he is shooting one movie?  The extraneous cast of would-be post office thieves are more typed after a lesser episode of the Three Stooges than a new refreshing look in cinema. This story could have worked, but as soon as you are trying to get into the heist you are jerked out and abruptly placed into a different perspective or if you are lucky, planted into what caused Jean Claude to be at that dreary post office in events prior.

The end of the movie is...well...real, but still feels incomplete.  I hear they have already announced a director's cut due out on DVD which I can only hope has more Van Damme than stooges.  It is short which helps the slow moving action exposition, but hurts Van Damme's stellar performance and the characters outside of the post-office who I would much rather see fleshed out.

I give this movie...

A Slice Of Brussels Sprout Pizza