JCVD

JCVD is a 2008 crime drama film directed by French Tunisian film director Mabrouk el Mechri, and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as a semi-fictionalized version of himself, a down and out action star whose family and career are crumbling around him as he is caught in the middle of a post office heist in his hometown of Brussels, Belgium. The film was screened on 4 June 2008 in Belgium and France, at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival (Midnight Madness), and at the Adelaide Film Festival on 20 February 2009. It was distributed by Peace Arch Entertainment from Toronto and opened in New York and select cities on 7 November 2008. Plot The film establishes Jean-Claude Van Damme playing himself as an out-of-luck actor. He is out of money; his agent cannot find him a decent production; and the judge in a custody battle is inclined to give custody of his daughter over to his ex-wife. His own daughter rejects him as a father. He returns to his childhood home of Schaerbeek in the Brussels capital region, Belgium, where he is still considered a hero. After posing for pictures with clerks outside a video store, Van Damme goes into the post office across the street. A shot is fired inside the post office, and a police officer responds but is waved off by Van Damme at the window, which is then blocked. The officer calls for backup.