JCVD: META MUSCLE
July 20th 2009 07:46
No botox here: Jean Claude Van Damme in JCVD.
Many may snarl at the career of Jean Claude Van Damme, but even the stuffiest of highbrows seems to get the joke with JCVD and that says plenty about the impact he’s had on the modern movie landscape.
Throughout the late 80s and early 90s Van Damme kick boxed his way through one low rent flick after another. It was a physically able and dramatically slight period that perhaps reached its zenith with the John Woo-directed Hard Target in 1993. Since then, ‘The Muscles from Brussels’ has been in a steady decline, the lessening quality of scripts offered teaming with his advancing years to slowly squeeze the life from an already middling career.
In that sense, JCVD is a minor triumph for Van Damme, a return to a box office recognition that’s been missing for the past decade and a half. But in another way, it’s a much greater success for the middle-aged Belgian player, as he illustrates that behind all the physical razzle-dazzle of the last twenty years there’s been a man who can act.
So much so that his performance dominates what is ultimately a mediocre film. Screenwriters Frederic Benudis, Christophe Turpin, and Mabrouk El Merchi (who also went on to direct the film) seemingly dropped the keys to the gun cabinet, so excited they were about the premise that drives the central narrative.
And it is indeed a fantastic idea for a meta movie, as Jean Claude Van Damme plays himself returning to Belgium amidst personal and financial woes. He’s marching headlong into his late forties, fellow action man Steven Seagal has stolen his latest role from under his nose, and his ex-wife’s about to dispossess him of legal custody over their young daughter
As Van Damme gets off the plane in Brussels, he takes a cab straight to a post office to wire money to his US-based lawyer to keep the custody case afloat. But straight after he disappears into the post office a hold-up ensues: Jean Claude is seen pushing a file cabinet across a window and telling a cop to get lost before shots ring out from the building.
In no time at all the post office is surrounded by police and the media, plus a massive crowd of rubberneckers all keen to catch a glimpse of their hero, seemingly driven beyond the point of rationality. A tense standoff soon begins as confused negotiators attempt to get to the bottom of Van Damme’s wonky demands
It’s a fantastic set up that has unfortunately too often been undone by verbose reviews that give away the major plot point of the film, and perhaps it’s the knowledge of this major turn in the narrative that can knee-cap an ultimate enjoyment of JCVD.
Jean Claude considers his dwindling options in JCVD.
Still, you can’t help but feel that the script is too slight and too full of plot holes for its imposing ideas and subtexts. Things aren’t helped by El Mechri’s overly busy direction and Kako Kelber’s scatter shot editing, with both aspects leading to some very confusing segments for the audience.
But the weaknesses in JCVD are almost to Van Damme’s benefit, because it allows him to dominate the film that much more. There are large parts of the film where he is ably dealing out the nuance one on one with another actor, and even an astonishing seven minute monologue straight to camera that will leave you incredulous, not knowing whether to laugh or cry (Van Damme cries, just so you know).
That’s JCVD’s strength: the filmmakers knew there was plenty of mileage to be had just by getting Van Damme in front of camera to bear his b-grade-weary soul - almost like a meta version of Mickey Rourke in the recent The Wrestler. It’s a turn that has garnered plenty of praise from both critics and long-time couch-staining fans, and you get the sense that the acclaim for a skilled and nuanced performance now means much more to the muscled middle-ager than fame or precision fly kicks ever could.
Check out the trailer for JCVD below:
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Mountain Fog
Comment by MVD
Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight
It's very watchable and thankfully quite short so check it out and let me know what you think. Good to have you back on The Bastard.
Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic
I love the score too, how do Gast Waltzing's funky, 70's style urban themes fare when matched with the images?
Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight