J.C.V.D. 2008

Ben Lyons, At the Movies: What if I told you that one of the coolest and most creative films of the fall starred.... Jean Claude Van Damme? Read more

A.O. Scott, 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. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: The film itself doesn't rise above the level of a good try. In the absence of Godardian wit, JCVD needs more kickboxing. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Written and directed by Mabrouk El Mechri, this functions perfectly well as a Van Damme vehicle, but it's also a funny and poignant look at a man trapped by his own ridiculous reputation. Read more

Jeff Shannon, Seattle Times: There's something seductively clever about the way French director and co-writer Mabrouk El Mechri has fractured chronology (a la Pulp Fiction) to examine JCVD's plight from various perspectives. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: A canny piece of autobiography that looks at the man behind the legend and the legend behind the man. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Van Damme is so good, and El Mechri's storytelling so entertaining, that JCVD takes its place alongside The Wrestler as one of the unlikeliest but most welcome comeback vehicles in ages. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: JCVD is what you might get if a French deconstructionist decided to make a drive-in flick: It reverse engineers the mayhem until it locates the humor, the sadness, and the insecure void at the heart of the genre. Read more

Sam Adams, Los Angeles Times: It might be the most impressive stunt of his career. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: The film sags in the middle section, and it's more a novelty item than a fully formed work. But it's very entertaining. And Van Damme proves himself a brave, possibly foolhardy actor. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: The clever, stylish perception-teaser of a comic drama JCVD -- a reality-twisting cousin to Being John Malkovich -- showcases a Van Damme who's sly like a fox about his own image. Read more

Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly: El Mechri really thinks he is making Citizen Kane in his non-linear deconstruction of a mythical man. He hasn't, but it's a heck of a curio. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: Seagal, it's your turn. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Self-referential projects are tricky territory, but Van Damme handles himself with such likable humor, this could be a career-changer. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Instead of being a spiffy spoof, the movie gives its star little to do. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: If you know Van Damme's work in the least, if you have any sympathy for the plight of the third-rate action screen hero whose days come to an end, JCVD will amuse and touch you. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: A clever art-imitates-life-imitates-art send-up of celebrityhood and the state of the action-hero genre, JCVD juggles humor with whomping martial-arts moves and a kind of melancholy star turn from the melancholy, muscular star. Read more

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. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: JCVD is not an action movie but a shrewd satire about stardom and the cult of celebrity. Read more

Grady Hendrix, Slate: Think of it as Sunset Bloodsport with Jean-Claude as Norma Desmond. Read more

Colin Covert, 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. Read more

Jennie Punter, Globe and Mail: Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Put JCVD into the category of films that no one saw coming. Read more

Rob Salem, Toronto Star: The film's odd conceit is its primary strength, with Van Damme in a nakedly honest, bravely candid turn that for the first time in his career can be commended as 'acting'. Read more

Ben Kenigsberg, Time Out: Read more

David Fear, Time Out: Part career-resuscitation attempt and part serious cry for help, Mabrouk El Mechri's Damme Day Afternoon rebranding effort is an incredibly intriguing failure. Read more

Tom Huddlestone, Time Out: Unpredictable, engaging and even challenging, 'JCVD' is an intriguing oddity. Read more

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. Read more

Rob Nelson, Variety: Incalculably superior in tone, attitude, intent, and intellect to bulk of bodybuilder vehicles, shrewdly produced pic limits limber star's acrobatics to first and last scenes without great detriment to whole. Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: No one will ever mistake these backstage shenanigans for Irma Vep. But as a self-regarding expression of masculine angst, it's a Damme sight more fun than Synecdoche. Read more

John Anderson, Washington Post: It's hard to resist: Here's a battered superstar who has occupied so many fantasies, but in his fantasies he's just like us. Read more