JCVD (2008)

Jean-Claude Van Damme gets involved in a bank robbery with hostages situation and reflects about his life during it.

Director:

Mabrouk El Mechri

Writers:

Mabrouk El Mechri (scenario), Frédéric Benudis (in collaboration with)

Stars:

Jean-Claude Van Damme, Valérie Bodson, Hervé Sogne

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jean-Claude Van Damme	...	JCVD
Valérie Bodson	...	Veuve Film Budapest
Hervé Sogne	...	Lieutenant Smith
Rock Chen	...	Réalisateur asiatique
Huifang Wang	...	Traductrice asiatique
John Flanders	...	Avocat ex-Femme
Renata Kamara	...	Juge Tribunal Los Angeles
Mourade Zeguendi	...	Client Vidéo club
Vincent Lecuyer	...	Vendeur Vidéo Club
Jenny De Chez	...	Taxiwoman JCVD
Patrick Steltzer	...	Policier 1
Bernard Eylenbosch	...	Technicien Telecom
François Damiens	...	Bruges
Pascal Lefebvre	...	Képi 2
Jacky Lambert	...	Képi 3

Storyline

Between his tax problems and his legal battle with his wife for the custody of his daughter, these are hard times for the action movie star who finds that even Steven Seagal has pinched a role from him! In JCVD, Jean-Claude Van Damme returns to the country of his birth to seek the peace and tranquility he can no longer enjoy in the United States.

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Plot Keywords:

filmmaking | entire title is capitalized acronym | actor playing himself | actor name in title | brussels belgium | 

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Taglines:

Be Aware

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some violence

Details

Official Sites:

Asmik Ace Entertainment [Japan] Atlantic Film [Sweden]

Country:

Belgium Luxembourg France

Language:

French English

Release Date:

2 August 2019 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ж.К.В.Д.

Filming Locations:

Brussels, Brussels-Capital, Belgium

Box Office

Budget:

€10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

€524,109 (France), 8 June 2008, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$20,119, 9 November 2008, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$470,691, 18 January 2009

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gaumont,Samsa Film,Artémis Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mabrouk El Mechri and Jean-Claude Van Damme had an agreement that the latter couldn't yell 'cut' to end a scene (as Van Damme has done on many of his other films).

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Goofs

When the two guys talk about movies in the Video-store the one claims that Stallone fought against Arabs in "Rambo 3". But actually in "Rambo 3" John Rambo was fighting FOR Afghans Muslims in Afghanistan and against the "bad" Russian troops.

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Quotes

JCVD: This movie is for me. There we are, you and me. Why did you do that? Or why did I do that? You made my dream come true. I asked for it. I promised you something in return and I haven't delivered yet. You win, I lose. Unless... the path you've set for me is full of hurdles where the answer comes before the question. Yeah, I do that. Now I know why. It's the cure, from what I've seen here. It all makes sense. It makes sense to those who understand. So... America, poverty, stealing to eat... ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

The Gaumont logo has an animated Jean-Claude Van Damme appear in the logo and deliver roundhouse kicks to the boy and the sunflower.

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Connections

References The King of Comedy (1982)

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Soundtracks

None Of Us Are Free
(Barry Mann (as Mann) / Cynthia Weil (as Weil) / Brenda Russell (as Russell))
© Dyad Music / Geffen Music
Represented by Sony / ATV Music Publishing / Universal Music Publishing
Performed by Mabrouk El Mechri
(p) 2008 GAUMONT

User Reviews

A pleasant surprise

JCVD is an excellent surprise. It's a kind of dramatic comedy where Jean-Claude Van Damme plays with great conviction his own role in life. This starting postulate, to tell a passage of the life of a movie-star on the decline by the person himself, makes the movie sail between fiction and autobiography. This original and ambiguous concept propels the script in a tasty, funny and tragic reality/fiction realm. One can think sometimes of Pulp Fiction.

The famous movie-star, Jean-Claude, is surprisingly right and touching. Van Damme plays here the role of his life, in all the senses of the words. There will be a before and an after JCVD. The central monologue of the film, a rare feat of ingenuity, a long one-shot sequence of the star made up of his doubts and his anguishes, is bound to become a classic.

The film is however not perfect. The flashbacks are well carried out but some scenes seen twice can be somewhat long and would have been improved by being shortened a bit the second time around. This saved time would have made it possible to develop the supporting characters, like the police chief, a bit more. Speaking of supporting characters, those are somewhat caricatures and with one dimension.

JCVD reveals itself as an excellent surprise. Far from being a hollow marketing ploy, this film, probably the best of Van Damme, is a true success that deserves to be seen.

The question now is what will Van Damme do next?