Luke
stu-kicks
CibbuanoJCVD
January 27th 2010 06:22
Everyone loves a comeback. Whether it's Marlon Brando in The Godfather, Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler or AC/DC's single Rock N Roll Train, there's something special about seeing someone recpature the glory that made them famous so very long ago. The last person anyone ever expected a comeback from was probably Jean-Claude Van Damme, alongside Steven Seagal he's become something of a straight-to-DVD joke in recent years. No one could ever imagine either of these two guys ever making a triumphant comeback because their screen personas seem so entwined with career-damaging egos. Their inability to laugh at themselves to any degree means that the common, non-action film fan can't identify with them in any capacity. JCVD is a comeback film of epic proportions because it combines a surprisingly post-modern concept with an unprecedented depth of humility on Van Damme's part. The film itself isn't as big in scope as we might hope it to be, but it does things with an 80s action star (the genuine article!) that we never dreamed could be done. If someone travelled back in time to ten years ago and described this film to me I wouldn't have believed them. In fact, prior to seeing this film for myself, I didn't really believe it anyway.
Jean-Claude Van Damme plays himself. We open with a fabulous tracking shot of Van Damme singlehandedly ripping apart an army to the soulful strains of Baby Huey, at the end of the opening credits it's revealed that this is Van Damme the actor, on a movie set. He lets fly at the director in frustration at having to do all this in one long tracking shot as he's getting too old for it. From here we follow Van Damme through his ongoing custody battles for his daughter, a disappointing meeting with his agent, his mounting financial troubles, etc, etc. All these things echo Van Damme's real life - his own personal frustration at only being given the opportunity to be in crap European movies, his real life custody battle for his son... it's a brave case of art imitating life that allows Van Damme to bring more depth to his acting then anyone ever thought possible.
The bulk of the film is given over to a hostage/heist plot that Van Damme inadvertantly gets embroiled in. The film takes a non-linnear look at the events, examining the heist from an outside perspective at first, then showing us what is concurrently going on inside, and then opening the story out further to show the events leading up to it. Part of it feels like hipness for the sake of being hip, but it also allows for a couple of very funny side-scenes where people interact with Belgian superstar Jean-Claude Van Damme. As this is the real life Van Damme and not his toughened screen persona, JCVD pits him against a rather inept but dangerous trio of robbers as opposed to his usual movie-sized oppponents. Van Damme is forced to used his wits rather than his fists, which is as good a start at any if an action hero wants to break free from his typecasting.
This movie is really about the scenes where we get to see Van Damme do things that he normally doesn't do in movies - whether it's his upsetness at disappointing his mum, his apparent willingness to work for nothing in order to be in a good movie, or his amusing interactions with fans and non-fans (some of which were apparently adlibbed). But the one amazing scene that everyone talks about when they see this movie is the sequence where he breaks the fourth wall and talks directly to the audience... where he directly apologises to his fans, talks frankly about his drug addiction and marital problems, and becomes quite emotional. You can't help but be moved by what is very obviously the real Van Damme letting the audience know his deepest regrets and insecurities, it's astounding and captivatingly heartfelt. I've never really been much of a Van Damme fan, but I now have a lot of respect and admiration for him. Hardcore Van Damme fans should love this movie too, there are several references to his career that would probably mean a lot more to them then they did to me. It's a shame that he'll probably continue doing the same sorts of films he usually does, but at least he got to make this movie... it's the kind of truthful film that superstars never make. I can't really think of anyone else as famous who has ever put themselves out there like this. This is the sort of film that almost never gets made.
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