have recently revisit my old van damme collection ( my wife have develop a bit of a crush on jc ) and i have make my way through all the classic ( bloodsport and awol and kickboxer and death warrant and universal soldier etc ) and hugely enjoyed revelling in the guilty pleasure of watch a short and white belgian dude kick the living snot out of everyone else on the screen . why else would anyone go to see a van damme picture . the last film i come to be nowhere to run . have not see it in a good ten year and and remember it a slow pace and indulgent and severely lack in arse kicking and i be not really expect to be at all impressed . it funny and look through most of the review here and that two group of people have clearly emerge . the first group and the van damme fan and be all complain that this be not your average vd film and bitch about how they be cheat into watch a serious drama . the other group be all up in arm at the fact that anyone would make a serious drama and cast van damme in it . i have a name for this group and but i doubt imdb would publish it . let just call them wnkers . why the wnkers and who clearly have an abundant dislike for the muscle from brussells and would go to see a film with his name above the title be beyond me . cinesnobs have no place at a van damme show . i will leave it at that . the reason i felt compel to write this review be that i be and admittedly and a bit of a cinesnob and but i be also happy to take a film for what it be . i like james bond and i like sonny chiba and i like blaxploitation and i also fricking like van damme movie . what i do not expect and be for a serious drama star van damme ( try say that out loud without snicker ) to be so damme good . ( get it . ) the story be pretty simple and jc be an escaped con who happen upon a sleepy little town which be about to be pulverise by a nihilistic land developer ( not surprisingly and a british one and play with appropriate menace by joss ackland ) . he befriend a little boy ( not in the michael jackson way and though the boy in question be and ironically and macaulay culkin young brother and kieran ) and consequently get rather chummy with the boy mother . happily and she be both widowed and incredibly hot . a if her be a still distraught widow weren not enough and she be also be harass to a rather unreasonable degree by ted levine and who be hilarious and brilliant and the land developer chief henchman . cue van damme . sound like the ideal recipe for another typical action flick and so i be willing to forgive those vd fan who felt cheat . what we actually end up with be a genuinely moving and well paced and hugely enjoyable action drama . it may sound unthinkable and but jc actually pull his character off perfectly . sam be mistrust and awkward but ultimately strive to be a decent person . director mark harmon make a very savvy decision in keep jc dialogue to a minimum and leave him the task of create a believable character with his face and body language alone . don not believe the naysayer and jc delivers a truly surprising performance . rosanna arquette also handle her role well and even if the character be fly dangerously close to stereotype . her performance ground the whole story and and we both care for her plight and admire her determination ( the men in the audience will also admire her perfectly form semi naked body ) . the two kid be bind to be annoy and but theyre certainly nowhere close to be as bad a they could have be . the real star of this film be the consistently beautiful cinematography by the relatively unknown david gribble . with scenery like this and you would be hard press to go wrong with the external stuff and but the interior be equally well shot . the big let down and both in term of cinematography and the film a a whole and be the truly lame action . there be only a handful of action sequence in the whole show and but theyre easily the dull moment in the film . when you have a good story and solid character and a really well cast group of fine actor and do you really need to throw in a bunch of crappy fight . sadly and if youre sell this a a van damme picture and the answer be yes . so they have the courage to put jc in a serious role and give him the chance to prove that he can actually act and but they do not have the ball to actually sell the film on this basis . the trailer say van damme and a you have never see him before and then just give u a bunch of poor action clip . be it any wonder that nobody who actually bother to see this film like it . if it weren not bad enough that the action scene be badly shot and clumsily edit and theyre also punctuate by really poor one liner from jc ( strike 3 and youre out . and au revoir and fker be among the bad ) . one get the feeling that there be difference in the opinion of the director and the star and the opinion of the producer and studio folk . presumably and someone think they have find a happy balance . someone be wrong and and the film really suffer a a consequence . if you can overlook this and and youre not watch the film either to complain that it not a solid action flick or to complain that van damme be in a drama and you will probably find yourself surprisingly impress with the film .