@JCVD

When I was younger, I used to love Jean-Claude Van Damme movies. What set his movies apart from Steven Segal or the Gov-ah-nator was that they had real heart. They always had amazing stories and you always left the theater feeling like you could take on the world.

In the past few years, however, I haven't been paying much attention to Van Damme because I tend not to pay much attention to movies that are released directly to video. For those of you who don't know, the reason movies get released only on video is because they are either A) not very good to begin with B) have too much sex for main stream movies or C) are really artsy-fartsy and don't have a chance to make any money.

JCVD, however does not fit any of these very well sometimes it's a little artsy-fatrsy), but I don't remember it ever coming out in theatres. This movie definitely shows me something. I am happy to say that Van Damme still has not only the karate moves, but the acting chops to really carry a movie.

You spend alot of this movie feeling bad for him. He really is just a victim of circumstance who has tried to attone for his past sins by just being a good guy and trying to get stuff going again. There are lots of funny jokes in this movie, including jokes about steven segal cutting off his pony tail and about how Van Dammes daughter is ashamed of him. That last one extempified the level of black humor that abounds in this film; you often find yourself laughing at Vandammes Expense but then feeling really bad for it.

Like I said, there are several parts that were a little to much for me, like when Van Damme has a look at the camera and pretty much begs americans to like him. You don't have to beg Jean-Claude! I like you very much!