The Bouncer

Quite nicely made and quite possibly the last good film with Van Damme. Story-wise it's kind of standard and unfortunately there's not much action, but the film flows well and the atmosphere is quite bleak. 6/10. (14.03.2021)

Jean Claude Van Damme has again bounced back and again shows that, in the hands of a capable director, he can hand in an unexpected performance. The French genre maestro Julien Leclercq serves up a bleak, gloomy existential action flick with an aging hero. The Bouncer is actually the sombre counterpart to JCVD, in which Van Damme leaves behind the radiance of a star and passes himself off as being at the mercy of frailty, as well as another captivating action sequence filmed in one shot. Leclercq's characteristic long Steadicam shots tracking characters in motion from a third-person perspective, using video games as a model, greatly enhance the gritty realism of this genre revelation. (22.08.2020)

Finally, Jean-Claude got it. The Bouncer is actually a pretty solid French drama, which has a great screenplay and stars the excellent Van Damme. Sometimes there’s no need to kick the hell out of everybody and try to turn every scene into an action ride. All you need is a good script, a few action moments, and a twist... and the quality is taken care of. I haven’t enjoyed Van Damme as much as I did in this flick for a long time. I wish it would last. I’d rather watch an authentic European drama than another B rated action movie. (09.06.2019)