Metacritic reviews

A reality-twisting cousin to "Being John Malkovich" -- showcases a Van Damme who's sly like a fox about his own image.

JCVD is a whimsical twist on the biopic, sending up heist movies and breaking cinematic rules to interesting effect. At a critical moment, Van Damme rises out of a tense hostage situation to look into the camera and speak movingly to the audience. He has never seemed more convincing.

JCVD should entertain both movie and action buffs. Van Damme proves once and for all that he's not just a set of glistening pectorals. However, he's still in no danger of being asked to play Hamlet.

A French-language meta-movie parody par excellence, constitutes the headiest stretch of the beefy star's career since, well, ever.

Van Damme has been known as a martial-arts legend, movie star and pain in the ass. But never an actor -- until now.

A canny piece of autobiography that looks at the man behind the legend and the legend behind the man.

What exactly is JCVD? Comedy? Confession? Confusion? 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."

Who knew? Turns out, Jean-Claude Van Damme is a funny guy, and a pretty good actor, too. Fans may already be aware of this, but JCVD is likely to introduce a whole new Van Damme to everybody else.

At one point, Van Damme delivers a long, tortured soliloquy about his alienating stardom to the camera in a single take. It's the most amazing piece of acting I've ever seen by a martial artist. But the film itself doesn't rise above the level of a good try.

Some of this is affecting, some of it tedious, and the film's inconsistencies of tone are made more glaring by its peculiar look.