Surveying the latest lineup announcements for the Toronto International Film Festival, we were stopped cold in our tracks by Jean-Claude Van Damme. The Muscles from Brussels plays himself (themselves?) in JCVD, which roundhouse-kicks off TIFF’s Midnight Madness program. French director Mabrouk El Mechri’s uses the faded Belgian star’s real life as the basis for a meta-action/comedy, effectively giving the Van Damme the Curb Your Enthusiasm treatment while, word has it, getting an unflinching and open-hearted performance from the subject himself. We’re already printing up our own “WWJCVDD?” hats. TIFF runs Sept. 4 through 13. Visit www.tiff08.ca for info and updates, but for now, get yourself pumped with the JCVD trailer:
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