Jean-Claude Van Damme's new action comedy JCVD has the Muscles From Brussels playing a version of himself i. e. a Belgian actor caught up in a random bank robbery, in what one can only assume is a semi-autobiographical movie. There are some funny moments in the beginning, admittedly; however, soon as the movie begins to get serious, one finds them quickly tapering off.

The opening scene of the film, which is the only action sequence in the movie shows Van Damme knifing, kicking, slugging and pleading with his director over age finally catching up with him, which makes it difficult for him to do action scenes in one take. As the film moves on, we find Van Damme is employed in an expensive Los Angeles law firm, but a bounced cheque forces him to take a role in a low-budget action movie to make some money.

Succeeding, he heads for the bank to make a withdrawal, only to get caught up in a bank robbery that has the cops thinking he is robbing the bank. The rest of the film shows a standoff between the robbers and the cops, with Van Damme stuck in the middle. A fantasy sequence follows with Van Damme freeing the hostages and kicking butt, knocking the bad guys unconscious. Ultimately, we find that actually he is in prison, where he is happily involved in giving karate lessons.

The movie may have had die-hard Van Damme fans howling with delight before the movie, but their howls of delight were less and more muted after seeing the film. Go for the movie that according to J. Hoberman in The Village Voice is actually "… a self-regarding expression of masculine angst", but "…a Damme sight more fun than Synecdoche', however, at your own peril. Certainly, parts of JCVD are funny, but that said, most audiences may find it hard to warm to this low-budget 'what is it', whether they are Van Damme fans or not.