Jason watches "JCVD"

As in, Jean-Claude Van Damme. And he's a total trouper in this self-mocking movie where he plays himself, struggling with aging, divorce, custody, and legal debt. So he takes a little vacation to his native Belgium, where he's still a hero. He goes to the post office to pick up a wire money transfer, and stumbles onto a robbery/hostage situation. Worse yet, when the robbers force him to help move a cabinet to block a window, the cops mistakenly think he's the robber, the news gets word of this, and legions of his fans show up outside. He has some ideas from his movies to help (help the robbers, so they won't make a bad situation worse), but mostly he's as powerless as any hostage. It's really a long joke about the difference between movies and reality, and at times it gets surprisingly bitter (there's a breaking-the-fourth-wall monologue that's the heart of the movie and seems shockingly sincere and angry). Yeah, I have new respect for the Muscles from Brussels. Maybe not enough to look forward to "Universal Soldiers III", but enough to enjoy this movie.