Man, my wife really didn’t want to watch this film. I was shocked – why wouldn’t she want to see a Jean Claude Van Damme flick? Especially after the band we were in had a song called “JCVD”? Regardless, there are times when you have to do what’s best for the family in general, so I forced her to watch it with me the other night. And guess what? She liked it.
In JCVD Mr. Van Damme plays himself, who is caught in a real-life situation not unlike what his characters sometimes go through. The film plays out in a gritty and realistic manner, and it has some moments of sheer brilliance. Many events are true to JCVD’s life while others are fabricated, and it’s hard to draw a line between them. The most intriguing part of the film for me was his 6-minute monologue, which made me seriously consider how I felt about him as an actor. After reading up on the film a bit, I found out that 30% of the film was unscripted, which makes it that much more impressive.
Is it my favorite Van Damme film ever? I don’t know, I’d have to re-watch Bloodsport, Kickboxer, and Time Cop (oooh, my wife would love that). But is it his BEST film ever? Hell yes.
After reading that review, I’m definitely going to check this one out. Just watched Eagle Eye and enjoyed it. Next film, The Bank Job with the dude from The Transporter. Finally played Left 4 Dead last night (pissed that there’s no 4 person coop on one system). Impressed by the speed of the game and enjoyed the different zombie types. Great game mechanics. The last podcast was great!
I saw on your blog that you’re getting RR soon, make sure you send us Xbox Live friend invites! We’ll break you in gently, promise. The Bank Job was okay, I reviewed it last year:
http://threevue.com/2008/06/06/film-review-the-bank-job/