In praise of JCVD

I had heard a lot of good things about this movie, and finally picked up a copy this week. All that I had heard failed to do justice to this movie. It’s fan-freaking-tastic!

I loved the homages to old heist movies. The most obvious is Dog Day Afternoon, of course. I mean, at that first scene in the post office hostage room, I even went “OMFG it’s Sal!” The casting director did an excellent job!

The script was tight, the acting was tight, the camera work was terrific. And without spoiling anything, I loved the ending. That’s how I like my movies to end: realistically.

But best of all: Jean-Claude Van Damme! Holy shit! Who knew he could actually act? I mean, I watched a ton of his flicks from back in the '80s and early '90s, and while he was passable for an action movie star, he was never somebody that was gonna be up for an Academy award. But damn if he wasn’t awesome in this. His monologue alone was worth the cost of the BR, as far as I’m concerned.

I really don’t know what else to write. I want to watch the whole thing over again right away, to see what I might have missed the first time around.

Anyone else see this movie yet? Anyone not think it was a great movie?

Yeah, I do. Thought the idea was good, but apart from that it was poor, just looked like an overstretched short movie from a film student still very far from maturity. The actual short that director made with Van Damme and which has JCVD showing up for the casting of the film (they’re looking for someone to play JCVD, and Van Damme shows up and wants to audition) on the other hand, is a riot. Try to look for it, I know I can find it easily in French, not certain for an English version (it’s an eight minutes black and white short).

I get what they were trying to do with the film, and the homages to other films (especially New Wave Godard-like sensibility) but it didn’t work for me. If it had been more absurdist, like Kaufman’s Adaptation I could have bought into it; Van Damme’s six minute soliloquy about the tragedy of being Jean Claude Van Damme had me in stitches, although I think he intended for this to be a serious interlude.

I don’t know if it is a good film or a bad film, but it isn’t the kind of film I’d care to see twice. Of course, I said the same about Contempt and have been roundly scrubbed for dismissing such a groundbreaking film.

Stranger

Someone wannna throw a dummy a link so I know what everyone’s talking about?

JCVD

It’s a great film. It seems like Van Damme’s biggest problem over the years, acting wise, was that he just wasn’t comfortable speaking English, and he really shines when he’s permitted to speak French.

The ending, as the OP says, is perfect.

I’m with the other posters who were disappointed. Slow and tedious, except for the beginning and end. The ending was good, but not enough to redeem the movie.

I thought it was slow for about 8 minutes, right near the middle. About when his parents were brought in to the video store.

Other than that, my only complaint about it was the washed out color scheme, but I complain about that in every movie I see it in. Like Running Scared, which was a great movie, but the stupid washed out color scheme was just grating as hell. Same thing with this movie.

Did you notice the way Van Damme smirked after he told the Commissioner to send US$485,000 to his lawyer? That was a great touch, the way it showed how pleased he was with himself for thinking fast on his feet and turning the situation to his own advantage (he thought).

I watched it again just last night, and I stand by my first impression: a damn good movie and a heckuva performance from Van Damme.

I’m a big Van Damme fan. I have about 20 of his movies on DVD, and I loved JCVD. I thought it was a really interesting departure for him. And for what it’s worth, my wife usually hates his films, and she said she really liked JCVD.