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I saw it last summer at the Fantasy Filmfest Berlin. Here´s my review:
He´s back. And what a return! This is the ultimate comeback of a guy who had it all and went downhill straight into the video bin.
The movie starts with a one take action sequence à la De Palma, with our hero karate chopping and shooting the bad guys en masse, being really dedicated to his work, and it ends with a hilarious snafu and there he stands, talking to a director who just does not care. It´s been a long time since he worked with John Woo.
But it gets worse. There he sits in court fighting for custody over his daughter, his wife´s lawyer pounds his movie DVDs on the table as evidence and his child says, she just wants the other children to stop making fun of her.
Finally he ends up home in Brussels, where the people give him a warm welcome (the dialogue with the taxi driver is so funny and revealing at the same time). But that´s only a short breather because in less than five minutes he ends up a hostage in a post office and the police believe him to be the gangster.
And of course one gangster is a big fan, which will lead to comical and tragical scenes. I won´t tell much more of what´ll happen, but this movie is also a bank robber and hostage movie in its own right. The lead gangster is such a vile and complete asshole, that you don´t have much hope that many will make it out alive. And the police are also not that competent. Meanwhile, a huge crowd has gathered and keeps shouting „Jean-Claude! Jean-Claude! Jean-Claude!“
This movie is such a wonderful surprise. The actors are so well cast and they can switch between drama and comedy so effortlessly and believably it´s just a joy to experience. It´s all in bleached colours, with lots of close ups, and has this gritty visual style which is just ideal for this film.
The heart of this movie is when Jean-Claude is lifted in his seat out of the bank and right through the fourth wall and speaks to the audience. It´s a confession. He talks about his teenage dreams of fame, about the respect he found at the dojo and that he did not get in Hollywood, about his drug addiction, about love and his fear of death and again it´s one take and he bares his soul. Wow.
Do yourself a favour and watch this movie. It works on so many levels, not the least the utterly fascinating complete transformation of Jean-Claude Van Damme from a caricature to a full fledged dramatic actor. |
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