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! This fictionalized version of 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, but inadvertently gets involved in a bank robbery with hostages.
Acting
Van Damme's six-minute unbroken monologue—career-defining vulnerability.
Direction
Mabrouk El Mechri's looping timeline turns heist into character study.
Director
Mabrouk El Mechri
Jean-Claude Van Damme
J.C.V.D.
François Damiens
Bruges
Zinedine Soualem
Man wearing Beret
Karim Belkhadra
Watchman
Jean-François Wolff
Thirty-year-old
Anne Paulicevich
Teller
John Flanders
Ex-wife's Lawyer
Janine Horsburgh
JCVD's Assistant
Mourade Zeguendi
Video Club Client
Valérie Bodson
Widow at Film Budapest
Hervé Sogne
Lieutenant Smith
Vincent Lecuyer
Video Club Seller
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Van Damme was in real tax trouble and custody battles during filming; he essentially played a documentary version of himself.
The film premiered at Cannes to a four-minute standing ovation—legitimizing a star critics had dismissed for decades.
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