The Bouncer

The Bouncer is an extremely grim & gloomy dark tale of a single father who works nights at sleazy clubs as a bouncer but can't wait to get home to see his daughter.

This is a very dark story, realism is splashed all over this Drama/Thriller & van damme gives probably his greatest performance of his career!!!

I like most grew up watching his 80's & 90's action films & have always been a huge fan of his as i am of Schwarzenegger & Stallone, so IT'S really nice to see van damme in a way long overdue dramatic role with serious acting even though it's another straight-to-dvd B-movie it's made with depth & character.

Van damme play's Lucas as a very lost & damaged man who only lives for his daughter.

The music is sometimes sad & dreary, it suits the gritty & grim tone perfectly as does the cinematography that captures the depressing surroundings.

A fantastic performance from van damme & a good solid gritty & violent story, just the ending ruined it abit for me but this is way better than most direct to dvd films & a million times better than nearly all of steven seagal's dvd flicks.

As all my action heroe's have aged & I've gotten older too, i see now that Van Damme is the best actor of those old school action stars & find that Van Damme gives the best performances in his films even if their low-budget B-movies & i find Van Damme to be the most down-to-earth of those guys & has become my favourite action star.

JCVD is known for his action movies where hes defeating his opponents and villains with ease which is amusing and fun to watch but almost hard to imagine in reality but in this movie his acting comes first. He is really good and story is maybe cheap but ending is makes it special. Movie is pretty much dark when we talk about story line but what is the more important that it does not include unreal action scenes or plot holes. Dialogue is solid and as i mention acting is fair with very good effort from Van Damme to make it count. I suggest you to watch this movie, you wont regret it.

Van Damme has improved as an actor majorly, he needs to continue this European movie making streak and leave the usual hollywood action crap behind, this is a nice movie with better acting than story but still better then what he has done in the past decade. Watch it, won;t be disappointed.

It's amazing how an action movie star that has always been looked upon with a smirk and a snigger can appear in a film this captivating, dark and tense. Van Damme carries his role to the bloody end. Partly spoken French, partly spoken English but the film is totally French in style. And this is no criticism. Beautifully paced yet offbeat, this film captivates with subtle screenplay and suggestive scores that always convinces you that danger could be around the next corner. Such a contrast to Van Damme's former films that dissolve any interest when this film keeps you magnetised to the bitter end.

Jean Claude is at his best here. It's good to see him working with professionals, cameramen, actors, producers. You can see here the true Van damme, the character is well played , acting, action, father, old timer, it's all there. Hope we see more of this. Sometimes slow (like French cinema) but overall, I had a great time