FORMAT: DVD
Jean-Claude Van Damme tried to showcase his acting range with this one as it’s more serious and grounded than his previous outings. However, he just wasn’t quite up to the challenge as he still had a long way to go as an actor. He did, however, mature nicely as a thespian later in his career with memorable turns in Expendables 2, Pound of Flesh, and Enemies Closer. It’s just at this stage in his career he needed a gimmick like Cyborgs or Timecops or twin brothers to make his vehicles work.
Nowhere to Run is essentially an action movie reworking of Shane. (There’s a scene where cops chase Van Damme on horseback just in case you didn’t catch on that this is supposed to be a modern day western.) Greedy land developers try to run Rosanna Arquette off her land. She won’t budge. JCVD is a drifter who makes amends for past misdeeds by helping her take a stand against the company and defend her property.
Directed by The Hitcher’s Robert Harmon with a slick but empty style, the pacing is a little staid and the action a bit lackluster compared to other VD action flicks of the era. Van Damme tries, but he’s in over his head with a more dramatic role than usual. It doesn’t help that his one-liners are kinda weak. (“Au revoir, fucker!”)
You know you’re in trouble when a dead guy gets a story credit. (In this case, it’s Return of the Jedi’s Richard Marquand). That usually means the script has been kicking around Hollywood forever. Even with names like Joe (Basic Instinct) Eszterhas, Leslie (Nightmare on Elm Street 5) Bohem, and Randy (Tango and Cash) Feldman listed as the other screenwriters, it all seems rather generic and derivative. The villains (Lethal Weapon 2’s Joss Ackland and The Silence of the Lamb’s Ted Levine) are good though, and Arquette’s nude scenes are more or less worth the price of admission. (It must’ve been the Eszterhas influence.)
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