JCVD Review

I waited a few days to write this, to see if I could mentally filter through all of the elements of the film, and possibly to recover.

I had wondered why this movie was only released in small theatres, and how I would manage to get my father to the mysterious wilds of Minneapolis to watch it. This became evident within the first 10 seconds of the film. This is not a typical Jean-Claude action movie, this movie is in French.

Have a moment to digest this: Two hours of Jean-Claude speaking in French.

***

Is your breathing back to normal? Heart beat less erratic? Now you understand why I needed some time, I am not entirely sure I have recovered all my senses. While most men I inform, groan and make other guttural noises of disappointment, women usually take a moment to imagine how completely fantastic this would be.

As a fan, but not a creepy-stalker-fan, I didn't actually know the events in the movie occurred. So this real-life-made up-true story was very interesting. This movie manages to pay homage to his older and somewhat cheesy action movies (that I happen to love), it also brings into sharp relief the reality behind the scenes. He manages to poke fun at himself, and take himself seriously at the same time. A delicate dance superbly executed.

The Monologue: This was the winning or loosing point of the movie for most people. They saw it as a washed up actor begging, or a man laying him self open to ridicule. As he was playing himself, it seemed a little of both. It sounded like possibly something going through his mind he promised himself that he would tell "the world" if he lived through the events. I happened to like it, when he wept, I shed a tear for him, and the inspiration for his sadness.

This was a drama with a small amount of action thrown in, and a few humorous parts woven in seamlessly. There was a short segment of Jean-Claude talking to his Agent that seemed poorly shot (you only saw the side of his head and his forearm and it was edited roughly), other than that, the possibly choppy, flashback heavy, script flowed remarkably well. I did break out in applause at one pinnacle moment, and I was not the only one.

Overall, I was very satisfied with the first big screen presentation of Jean-Claude in a decade, even if no one shot the taxi driver in the head to shut her up.