Jean-Claude Van Damme, Anne Paulicevich, François Damiens

When the life of Jean-Claude Van Damme collides with the reality of a hold-up in Brussels, Belgium, suddenly the huge movie star turns into an ordinary guy, filled with fears, contradictions and hopes...( read more  read more... ). How can he be up to the legend he has built? What can a film hero do when the gun pointed to his temple isn't charged with blanks? JCVD finds himself at the turning point of his "hero" life.

Flixster Users

70% liked it

4,821 ratings

Critics

85% liked it

95 critics

R, 1 hr. 32 min.

Directed by: Mabrouk El Mechri

Release Date: June 4, 2008

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DVD Release Date: April 28, 2009

Stats: 1,890 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,890)


  • October 9, 2009
    This film shows the action star in a way we havent seen him before. Not as a hero but as a regular broken down man with problems, issues, dept and emotions. A great drama that strips the character down to being seen as a very vulnerable and scared man, Van Damme portrays it beaut...( read more)ifully. Jean Claude Van Damme gives a riveting tour de force performance, he can actually act and what a hell of a amasing portrayel. A rough, nakedly emotional, remarkable, muscle stripping and very human performance. If he was ever gonna get an Oscar Nomination for best actor, this would be the tickett. A breathtaking, shattering and powerful film. A surprise gem. It's moving, groundbreaking, stunning and exhilerating. A teriffic and superbly original film thats well-crafted and incrediably well-performend. A pure knockout. It shines with humanity and brute force. An outstanding, funny, knowing and kick ass film that has a great style.
  • September 3, 2009
    probably the most memorable van damme movie purely because he's not just punching and kicking his way through 90 minutes of film without a script. just strange to see him acting. hopefully more like this on the way from him
  • June 30, 2009
    not at all as bad as you'd think, the soliloquy was impressive
  • May 12, 2009
    J.C.V.D.: . This... this is me today. I used to be small and scrawny. And I took up karate. Hence the Dojo, hence respect, thou shall believe people who say, "Oss!" It's Samurai code. It's honor, no lies. So this guy in the US, it's not the same thing. No one says "Oss" to you. S...( read more)ometimes people in show business say, "We're gonna' fuck em'". I believed in people, in the Dojo. I was blessed and had a lot of 'wives'. I always believed in love. It's hard for a woman with three kids to say, "Which one do I love more?" A mother... If you have 5, 6, 7, or 10 wives in a lifetime, they've all got something special, but no one cares about that in the so-called media. What about drugs? When you got it all, you travel the world. When you've been in all the hotels, you're the prima donna of the penthouse. And in all hotels the world over, traveling, you want something more. And because of a woman... well, because of love, I tried something and I got hooked. Van-Damme, the beast, the tiger in a cage, the "Bloodsport" man got hooked. I was wasted mentally and physically. To the point that I got out of it. I got out of it. But... it's all there.

    A great concept that delivers on its premise. A movie about a broken down action star being taken hostage, actually being played by the broken down action star.

    Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as himself. After a great opening sequence where JCVD is in the middle of filming one of his Direct-to-Video projects, perfectly lampooning his action status as he barrels through multiple bad guys and dodging explosions, all in one long shot, we find JCVD at court battling a nasty custody case.

    Soon after this, JCVD appears in downtown Brussels, heads to the bank, only to suddenly be taken into a hold up situation. Further problems ensue when the police arrive, all convinced that it is JCVD that is the hostage taker/bank robber.

    This is a very intriguing film. It has a low lit, grainy quality and scoring that gives it the feel of a 70s exploitation flick. At the same time, the movie is very much a human drama that has JCVD as the anchor, and he proves that he does have the chops to pull off much more than just split kicks. The vulnerability that is shown by him is quite effective, letting this film achieve its goal.

    Its a strange film, with a plot that could be seen as silly, but I loved the concept and the courage that Van Damme had to be involved in this flick.

    J.C.V.D.: It's all there. It was really tough. I saw people worse off than me. I went from poor to rich and thought, why aren't we all like me, why all the privileges? I'm just a regular guy. It makes me sick to see people... who don't have what I've got. Knowing that they have qualities, too. Much more than I do! It's not my fault if I was cut out to be a star. I asked for it. I asked for it, really believed in it. When you're 13, you believe in your dream. Well it came true for me. But I still ask myself today what I've done on this Earth. Nothing! I've done nothing! And I might just die in this post office, hoping to start all over here in Belgium, in my country, where my roots are. Start all over with my parents and get my health back, pick up again. So I really hope... nobody's gonna' pull a trigger in this post office... It's so stupid to kill people. They're so beautiful! So, today, I pray to God. I truly believe it's not a movie. It's real life. Real life. I've seen so many things. I was born in Belgium, but I'm a citizen of the world. I've traveled a lot. It's hard for me to judge people and it's hard for them... not to judge me. Easier to blame me. Yeah, something like that.
  • March 4, 2009
    While the framing story isn't as compelling as I would have liked, Van Damme's performance makes this a must see. Yes, you heard me. He's terrific. A life of celebrity, of being mocked, of difficulties with his personal life, all laid bare with an astonishingly honest performa...( read more)nce. This deserved a better reception in theaters.
  • November 4, 2009
    a very good one! he can really at when he wants.
  • October 31, 2009
    This actually a pretty good movie I was really surprised.
  • October 29, 2009
    JCVD is just what all the other reviews claim, it is a tour de force for Jean-Claude Van Damme the actor. If you're renting this expecting anything at all in the way of action then you are going to be extremely disappointed because apart from the opening scene which turns out to ...( read more)be a scene from a movie he is supposedly filming there is a total of two kicks, an elbow, and maybe a punch. I think that perhaps as Van Damme nears 50 he's realized that his career as an action star was living on borrowed time and that this film might serve as his calling card to the world of serious film-makers, at least in Europe. And it definitely does that in a most impressive fashion. With the making of this film the Muscles from Brussles proves himself to be undoubtedly the most talented thespian of all kwailo martial artists, and probably most Asian martial artists as well. Here he presents himself as amiable though world weary, down trodden, and scrambling to hold together the last vestiges of his fading career, and he does so very convinvcingly. Its been said that the most difficult thing for an actor to play is himself. If that's the case then Van Damme deserves an Oscar.
  • October 25, 2009
    Jean=Claude Van Damme pretty much stars as himself in what might be his best performance in any movie to date and shows he can infact act when he isnt do busy kicking people in the head . When caught up in a real life hold up the action hero who is known to take bad guys out show...( read more)s he is just a regular guy with everyday problems and like everyone else in the hold up is just gonna try and make his way out alive anyway that he can. This movie isnt perfect by any means but it does show the action star in a new light and the speech in the middle by Jean Claude is maybe the closest ull see to knowing how he really feels about his career worth a watch for some but not gonna be for everyone.
  • October 25, 2009
    I watched this movie with subtitles that I'm pretty sure where from another movie. I'm still not sure if I actually understood the plot but regardless it was pretty good.

Critic Reviews


January 30, 2009
Nigel Andrews, The Financial Times

Witty in bits, noisy in others. full review

December 12, 2008
Colin Covert, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

This is not only a Van Damme movie that will make you laugh -- on purpose -- it could very well make you cry. full review

November 14, 2008
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

Put JCVD into the category of films that no one saw coming. full review

November 14, 2008
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

JCVD is not an action movie but a shrewd satire about stardom and the cult of celebrity. full review

November 14, 2008
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

I sorta enjoyed myself. I could have done without the scene where he floats in anguished reverie, making Hamlet sound like an extrovert. full review

November 7, 2008
A.O. Scott, The New York Times

This may well be the most memorable Jean-Claude Van Damme movie ever, but I'm afraid that's not saying much. full review

November 6, 2008
Claudia Puig, USA Today

With JCVD, Van Damme proves he could make a viable career shift into humorous or dramatic character roles that hinge more on brains than brawn. full review

November 3, 2008
David Edelstein, New York Magazine

The film itself doesn't rise above the level of a good try. In the absence of Godardian wit, JCVD needs more kickboxing. full review

View more JCVD (Van Dammage) reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • ahmedalsid20
    November 7, 2008
    i think its will be the same idia of (Tropic Thunder)any way i want to see it
  • frenchy1978
    August 16, 2008
    This movie was such a great surprise!
    I really was expecting a classic van damme movie, where fits are used more than brains...
    But this one was different, and a little piss take of himself is only more rewarding!
    I can't believe this movie made me angry, laugh and cry!!

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