Well I finally got off my non-movie-watching butt, put another of my Netflix DVD’s in and hit the play button. This is a movie I was very skeptical about but when I heard the premise I have to admit I was intrigued. I never would have even considered renting it but my friend Moe walked into my work cubicle-like thing and began telling me what he read about it. When he gets really enthusiastic about something he starts pounding one fist into his other hand while continuously shifting his weight unnecessarily from one foot to the other. That got my attention. Then he directed me to the Time magazine link that listed Van Damme’s performance as one of the best male actor roles of the entire year.
This European movie is one of those vehicles where we have an actor playing himself, or at least some sort of spoof of himself that’s very closely based on what the public thinks it knows about him. In the opening scene, we have Van Damme filming an extended action sequence where he takes out about forty bad guys (literally) while allowing us to see how close his punches and kicks do not actually come to hitting the other actors. It’s also evident that not even the people responsible for making the movie thinks of it as anything worth throwing themselves into.
He’s a mostly washed-up actor, stuck playing the same role over and over again in movies whose only differentiating feature is their title. He’s burned out and desperate to be a part of something more artistically rewarding, but not even his agent takes him seriously. He’s broke and in a bitter custody battle for his daughter in divorce proceedings. He agrees to go ahead and sign up for another ‘Jean-Claude Van Damme movie’ and departs LA for his native Belgium. Once there, he learns he’s lost the part to Steven Seagal who gets the gig by agreeing to cut off his ponytail.
His fellow countrymen admire him and treat him sort of like a hometown hero. Long story short, he walks into the wrong place at the wrong time and because he’s so recognizable, it’s assumed that he’s responsible for a bank robbery turned hostage situation. Crowds, police and news crews gather as the situation becomes a media phenomenon.
The highlight of the movie is a sidebar sequence where Van Damme goes into confessional mode and while in character (in terms of the movie) goes on to seemingly apologize for his entire acting career. It’s a powerful sequence.
This was not a great or extremely well-executed movie. In fact, I think it went on a hair too long but it was interesting. It’s always refreshing to see an actor with such an established public persona poke such fun at himself. I don’t think the final product quite lived up to the potential of the premise, but it was a movie I was glad to have watched.
In the end, I give it a B-minus.
Tags: JCVD, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal
