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Nowhere To Run is one of Van Damme's better films. It has a nice storyline and some good acting. The direction is tight and I lked the score also. Not bad, but will probably be overlooked because it's a Van Damme picture.

This is another Jean-Claude Van Damme action flick, but a definite notch above many of his other films, at least in production values. The photography and stereo sound are excellent.

Actually, this is pretty simple stuff and old storyline of a low-key good guy rescuing the girl from local meanies. Here, Van Damme defends Rosanna Arquette and her small kids.

In another respect, the movie is just another avenue for the two stars to show off their incredible bodies. Neither has ever been shy about doing that and certainly aren't in this movie. My only objection is having one of the kids make a sexual remark, which is done in here. There is no excuse for that.

Ted Levine, who has turned nice guy in the hit TV series "Monk," is an effective bad guy in here. He played a lot of villains before "Monk" came around.

Anyway, it's fairly low-brow entertainment, but at least it is entertaining and fun to watch.

Now, we are moving into what I consider a good Van Damme flick. The story has been told many times. It is similar in many respects to Romeo Must Die - evil developer wants to put up a kitzy development and needs to run off small landowners. Clydie (Rosanna Arquette) resists and her deputy dawg boyfriend (Edward Blatchford) is playing both sides. In comes the hard-ass to get things finished (a very young Ted Levine) and, at the same time our hero breaks out of prison and camps on her doorstep. It seems Van Damme is always either breaking out of prison or going AWOL. Relationships with her two cute kids begin and then things really heat up with mom. Boyfriend is jealous and it all comes to a head, as expected, between Van EDamme and Levine. Smaltzy ending, but great chases. fights, and lots of passion.

Van Damme has a reputation as a kickboxer or an ass kicker and a martial artist. No one really thinks he can act and the only reason he has a career in the movies is because he can do all those things and because women swoon over him. Being the quintessential guy, I am pretty much in the category of guys that likes to see him in films that are loaded with kicks to the head and punches to the stomach. It is a guy thing to want to see guys like Van Damme, Arnold, Sly and Seagal kick some major butt. But I have to admit that as much as I like some of his films that are action and nothing but, this film really blew me away. I was completely convinced with the love story and I felt for the characters. Jean Claude gives his best performance in here. And the sript being written by Eszetheras is perfect. This is a film that relies more on character and dialogue than it does kickboxing skills. And perhaps that alienates die hard Van Damme fans but for the rest of the audience out there this is a great step in the right direction. I have heard people that love his smashmouth style of film say that this is a more tame Van Damme and they don't like it that much, but when your films only gross about the same amount as a typical Friday the 13th film, it's safe to say that there is room to grow and Nowhere to Run is definitely growth. The only reason that people didn't go to see it is because it is Van Damme. But this has so much more to offer than just your typical action flick. The romance is fresh and Kieran Culkin is excellent as the young tyke who grows attached to Van Damme. It's just too bad Claude couldn't make more movies like this one because I really think people would warm up to this style of movie from him and eventually his box office appeal would grow. But as long he continues to make movies like Universal Soldier 2 and Knock Off, he will forever be stuck in that mold.

Nowhere to Run is a great film and when it came out in 1993, I remember making out my list for the ten best films that year, and yes, this one was on it. I highly recommend it. I think you will be surprised. However, if you are hard core and like to see his films with lots of kicks and blood and cheesy lines from guys like Bolo Yeung, then don't go see this one, it is too much of a movie for you to enjoy.

This is a very engaging thriller, and I'm a big fan of the muscles from Brussels! All to like.

"Nowhere to Run" is a 1993 action film with decent action star Jean Claude Van Damme. Although good for fans of the genre and Van Damme, it may be a let down for others. Why I myself am not a diehard Van Damme fan (at least he did "Hard Target"), I thought this movie was good. Why, you ask? Because it has Ted Levine as the bad guy.! Anyway, this movie caught me by surprise. I thought it would be one of those bad movies where stuff explodes just so you can watch stuff explode. But I found it to be a decent vehicle for it's stars, and you never can go wrong with Ted Levine. It's a nice little movie. 6 out of 10.

Nowhere to Run is a film that I put on expecting an explosive action spectacle. What I got was a legitimately solid performance from Jean-Claude Van Damme and 1 hour 30 minutes of beautiful cinematography in a peaceful countryside setting. There are hardly any cityscapes or townships in this movie and, for me, that gave it a unique appeal among other movies in the action & adventure genre.

I really recommend this one. Worth your time and attention. It hits that sweat spot of being badass, while making you feel relaxed and comfortable.

Plot Synopsis: Sam, a convicted bank robber, is freed when the prison bus he is on is hijacked. On the run from the law, he comes to the aid of a woman & her two children who are being pressured to sell their land to corrupt developers.

"Nowhere to Run" is one of the numerous films featuring Belgian martial arts legend Jean-Claude Van Damme. The film, like many of Van Damme's work, does not rank too highly when it comes to things like acting, script or even direction. Director Robert Harmon, who helmed the excellent "The Hitcher", manages to keep things from going out of control. The script is simplistic, bordering on clichés – the good guy convict, the embattled single mother, the shady developers, even the corrupt sheriff. As usual, Van Damme makes a meal out of his role, while the two kids should have been taught a serious lesson on not to talk to strangers. Joss Ackland & Ted Levine play the villains quite well.

Reactions to this movie seem to depend on one's appetite for action. Those hungry for it are disappointed while those looking instead for plot and character development are pleased. I tend to fall into the latter category but must point out that while "Nowhere to Run" ranks among the better Van Dammes, it relies too much on stock situations, (plucky woman defending homestead), and cliche characters, (corrupt business tycoon with oily smile). I'd also like to point out the good work of Edward Blatchford as the local Deputy Sheriff. It's a thankless part but he manages to make something of it, and no, I didn't read any dark psychological meaning into the scene in which he discovers Van Damme taking a shower. However, I did find utterly bizarre that moment at the dinner table when Patricia Arquette's little girl casually comments on the impressive size of a certain portion of Van Damme's anatomy. This was promptly followed by Arquette's comment that it was only average in size. Talk about weird!

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

Nowhere To Run carefully conveys some touching,poignant moments,absent from every other Van Damme film except Legionnaire,but clumsily portrays them.The charecter development is poorly worked out,with potentially great charecters to build on either being killed off too early,or too quick to shed their skin.More of the film Van Damme obviously concentrated on being more dramatic,but ultimately the action scenes are as usual,especially so at the end,what take over,but again,this is too rapidly conveyed to have any real lasting effect,other than to do what any other basic Van Damme film would do.For a truely dramatic break from the norm,Legionnaire remains the Van Damme film to talk about.**

Having recently revisited my old Van Damme collection (my wife has developed a bit of a crush on JC), I have made my way through all the classics (Bloodsport, AWOL, Kickboxer, Death Warrant, Universal Soldier etc) and hugely enjoyed revelling in the guilty pleasure of watching a short, 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 came to was Nowhere to Run. Having not seen it in a good ten years, and remembering it as slow-paced, indulgent and severely lacking in arse-kicking, I was not really expecting to be at all impressed. It's funny, looking through most of the reviews here, that two groups of people have clearly emerged. The first group, the Van Damme fans, are all complaining that this is not your average VD film and bitching about how they were cheated into watching a serious drama.

The other group are all up in arms at the fact that anyone would make a serious drama and cast Van Damme in it. I have a name for this group, but I doubt IMDb would publish it. Let's just call them w*nkers. Why the w*nkers, who clearly have an abundant dislike for the Muscles from Brussells, would go to see a film with his name above the title is beyond me. Cinesnobs have no place at a Van Damme show. I'll leave it at that.

The reason I felt compelled to write this review is that I am, admittedly, a bit of a Cinesnob, but I'm also happy to take a film for what it is. I like James Bond, I like Sonny Chiba, I like blaxploitation and I also fricking like Van Damme movies! What I did not expect, was for "a serious drama starring Van Damme" (trying saying that out loud without snickering) to be so Damme good! (Get it?)

The story is pretty simple, JC is an escaped con who happens upon a sleepy little town which is about to be pulverised by a nihilistic land developer (not surprisingly, a British one, played with appropriate menace by Joss Ackland). He befriends a little boy (not in the Michael Jackson way, though the boy in question is, ironically, Macaulay Culkin's younger brother, Kieran) and consequently gets rather chummy with the boy's mother. Happily, she is both widowed and incredibly hot. As if her being a still distraught widow weren't enough, she is also being harassed to a rather unreasonable degree by Ted Levine, who is hilarious and brilliant and the land developer's chief henchman. Cue Van Damme.

Sounds like the ideal recipe for another typical action flick, so I am willing to forgive those VD fans who felt cheated. What we actually end up with is a genuinely moving, well paced and hugely enjoyable action drama. It may sound unthinkable, but JC actually pulls his character off perfectly. Sam is mistrusting, awkward but ultimately striving to be a decent person. Director Mark Harmon made a very savvy decision in keeping JC's dialogue to a minimum, leaving him the task of creating a believable character with his face and body language alone. Don't believe the naysayers, JC delivers a truly surprising performance.

Rosanna Arquette also handles her role well, even if the character is flying dangerously close to stereotype. Her performance grounds the whole story, and we both care for her plight and admire her determination (the men in the audience will also admire her perfectly formed semi-naked body). The two kids were bound to be annoying, but they're certainly nowhere close to being as bad as they could have been.

The real star of this film is the consistently beautiful cinematography by the relatively unknown David Gribble. With scenery like this, you'd be hard pressed to go wrong with the external stuff, but the interiors are equally well shot.

The big let down, both in terms of cinematography and the film as a whole, is the truly lame action. There are only a handful of action sequences in the whole show, but they're easily the dullest moments in the film. When you have a good story, solid characters and a really well-cast group of fine actors, do you really need to throw in a bunch of crappy fights? Sadly, if you're selling this as a Van Damme picture, the answer is yes. So they had the courage to put JC in a serious role and give him the chance to prove that he can actually act, but they didn't have the balls to actually sell the film on this basis. The trailer says "Van Damme, as you've never seen him before" and then just gives us a bunch of poor action clips. Is it any wonder that nobody who actually bothered to see this film liked it?

If it weren't bad enough that the action scenes are badly shot and clumsily edited, they're also punctuated by really poor one-liners from JC ("Strike 3, you're out!" and "Au revoir, f**ker" are among the worst). One gets the feeling that there were differences in the opinions of the director and the star and the opinions of the producers and studio folk. Presumably, someone thought they had found a happy balance. Someone was wrong, and the film really suffers as a consequence.

If you can overlook this, and you're not watching the film either to complain that it's not a solid action flick or to complain that Van Damme is in a drama, you'll probably find yourself surprisingly impressed with the film.

It's written by Joe Eszterhas(Basic Instinct)... yet it's virtually entirely uneventful. It's directed by Robert Harmon(The Hitcher, which I haven't seen but is said to be at least mildly interesting), yet barely holds your interest at all. It features Jean-Claude Van Damme(a man known and loved for Karate) yet has little to no fighting at all. The story isn't particularly involving. The plot is dull. The acting ranges, but most of it is Damme's standard. Oh yes, it *is* that bad. I enjoyed Ted Levine's character, but really, when you get to see that guy do his thing, how can you not? The action is as non-existent as it is uninspired. The writing, dialog and humor is pretty dim. The characters are clichés, one-note and poorly developed. The whole romance subplot just barely works. The leads are unappealing and lack charisma. The kids are more annoying than anything else. The film is ridden with action-flick clichés... that and Van Damme's rather poor excuse for acting kept me laughing rather than watching in excitement... I was on the edge of my seat for a fair bit of the time spent watching it, but that was because I almost fell of my chair from aforementioned laughing. I had seen this film once before, a few years back... and I remembered it as forgettable, not really worth my time and thoroughly unimpressive. As it turns out, my memory is not all that bad. Luckily, I didn't waste too much time paying attention this time around; I recognized most from the last time I watched. I guess it had etched itself on my mind, in order to keep me from forgetting how drab the film is. All in all, I suppose it's OK for big fans of Van Damme, just remember that this is not one of those of his films(meaning, the vast majority of them) where he kicks his way through all obstacles. Look elsewhere for that. I recommend this only to fans of Van Damme, as everyone else just won't see the point to it(as I did on this second viewing, after not being a fan of Damme's anymore). 5/10

Escaped from prison, Van Damme camps out near a widow's home in the woods.

Sure there's some action in the movie with quite a number of punch 'em outs but the movie really should have been in the drama section, not the action section of rental stores. This is quite a change for Van Damme as he becomes a father to the fatherless, nice guy, gentleman, and town savior.

So the story was really good and damn Van Damme did a good job at his nice guy part. The funniest part is when he and the boy go into town for motorcyle parts and the sherrif dude asks him questions. Listen to how Van Damme pronounces 'motercycle' and 'Quepec'.

Bank robber Sam Gillen (Jean-Claude Van Damme) finds himself on the run from the law after a daring prison escape orchestrated by his partner, Billy (Anthony Starke), with Billy having died in the crossfire. Sam seeks refuge in the woods on the property of widowed rancher Clydie Anderson (Rosanna Arquette) and is discovered by her two children Mike "Mookie" (Kieran Culkin) and Bree (Tiffany Taubman). When thugs hired by insidious land developer Franklin Hale (Joss Ackland) attack Clydie and her children, Sam fights the attackers off and drives them away and a romance develops between Clydie and Sam, but Hale remains steadfast in his desire to claim Clydie's land.

Nowhere to Run began development as a project for producer Craig Baumgarten for director Richard Marquand whose initial idea lead to what would eventually become Nowhere to Run. Surviving nearly a decade of development, the movie would've originally been a reteam of Marquand with writer Joe Esterhas after their previous collaboration of Jagged Edge. Following Marquand's death in 1987, the script was shelved until producer Baumgarten remembered it and repurposed it as a vehicle for one of Van Damme's films at Columbia Pictures. Initially written as more of a dramatic film with action elements, the script was re-written by other writers such as Leslie Bohem and Randy Feldman, and both Esterhaz and Van Damme have spoken of the film with unfavorable opinions. While the creatives may be mixed on the product they delivered, I can't help but like this movie because it's peak Van Damme doing his own takeoff of the classic western Shane.

The movie's more or less the typical framework for your archetypal western with a your flawed protagonist with a "past" finding himself welcome to an idyllic part of the land with good people and then finding himself needed to tap back into that past they're trying to escape from to take down the "bad men" trying to steal land, jump claims, or etc. The movie even features a barn burning as expected from any western with land disputes in it, and all that's missing is the 1800s or a saloon in which drunken brawls take place. Like many Van Damme movies he's not exactly giving a great performance, but it's a committed performance that keeps your eyes drawn to him. Rosanna Arquette is also good as Clydie (of course), Kieran Culkin does well as Mookie and has some amusing line reads and moments with Van Damme, but easily the best performances are the villains played by Joss Ackland and Ted Levine who are always welcome performances in any movie and they relish playing this evil land baron and his right hand respectively elevating admittedly very stock villain types simply by being there.

Now of course any Van Damme movie is only as good as its action, and luckily Nowhere to Run gives us plenty of it. Rather strange for a 90s action movie, the body count is kept relatively low with only Sam's partner Billy and a henchman being the only two fatalities in the movie. Despite the movie's low body count, the movie still utilizes its R-rating with impactful and creatively staged fight sequences that are entertaining and exhilarating with a particular standout motorcycle chase in the back half of the film featuring some solid stunt work.

I'm probably being overly kind to this movie, especially since I'm giving it greater praise than Eszterhas and Van Damme who aren't exactly known for looking back on this project with any nostalgia or fondness, but it delivers exactly what it promises. If you've seen Shane or the Burt Reynolds movie Malone you know what kind of movie this is, but with that said there's a sincerity to Van Damme in most of his films and the supporting cast are really good so I do recommend the movie to people who know what they're getting into. If you don't like this type of movie there's really nothing I can say to counter any criticisms of it, it gives what it promises.

(2003) Nowhere To Run ACTION

Jean Claude Van Dam stars as escaped convict, Sam Gillen taking the rap for someone's else's murder blah blah blah which is an excuse to showcase the action scenes and perhaps Van Dammes acting range, and as an action fan there's only "one" realistic memorable chase sequence regarding a realistic motorcycle chase (obviously ridden by stunt double) which overshadows whatever else shown on here or most action movies Van Damme has ever done. Movie also stars Rosanna Arquette as the single mother Clydie Anderson imposing her problems on the Van Damme character. A rather young Kieran Culkin also stars as Clydie's son Mike 'Mookie' Anderson.

Joe Eszterhas co-authored this screenplay (from an original treatment by he and Richard Marquand) about a convict (the able-bodied but colorless Jean-Claude Van Damme) who is on the run from the law after a prison-bus breakout. He takes up with a small town single mom (Rosanna Arquette) who seems ready to love him no matter what his crimes! Vehicle for action-star Van Damme begins quite well but quickly degenerates into sap and silliness. Eszterhas' plot is thin and derivative, not to mention ridiculous, and Arquette is pretty much wasted. There's a surprisingly minimal amount of visual excitement after the opening bust-out; that's all well and good, except that nothing of interest takes its place. *1/2 from ****

A really good JCVD film. At first you might be concerned that it won't follow his usual style (after the first scene), but don't worry, towards the end it gets ridiculous in its action-packed climax, to brilliant effect. Action comes in little bursts throughout, plus an entertaining chase scene, but his martial arts aren't fully displayed until you really want them. Some of the shots are daft, but I'm fairly sure they are what people watch JCVD films for.

It's JCVD at his physical best, plus no issues with his acting either. The story does eventually provide some explanation towards the protagonist's backstory, which is helpful as you decide whether he's really a 'good guy', but the basic premise is understandable throughout. Some really funny lines pop up, and the child acting isn't too bad either! What more could you ask for?

An escaped convict protects a widow from greedy land developers who want the property for something. Along the way the escaped convict falls for the widow and becomes a father figure for her two children. I want to make this clear, I quite enjoy Jean-Claude Van Damme and his movies, I recommended Bloodsport,Kickboxer and Universal Soldier. However Nowhere To Run is just an awful movie. When Jean-Claude Van Damme interacts with Kieren Culkin and the little girl, I just cringed. Even cringed more when Jean-Claude made passes towards Rosanna Arquette. Indeed there is a very awkward moment where Rosanna Arquette and the daughter in the movie discuss Van Damme's penis size at the dinner table, which then has Kieren Culkin all happy that his mom has seen Jean-Claude's penis. Yecch! It's all just cringe worthy material. With melodrama so leaden in sentiment that it made me want to throw up. Add on a sappy ending and you have what ranks as one of Jean-Claude's worst movies.

* out of 4(Bad)

I had heard that this movie wasn't typical Van Damme, but I still expected it to be mindless action on the whole. I was shocked when it turned out to be truly well done, and not just for a Van Damme movie. The acting is great, especially Rosanna Arquette's performance, and the story is not cheesy at all--it's actually compelling. The (sparse) fight sequences don't involve any weird Van Damme midair split-kicks to the head; they're straight-ahead brawls. This is definitely Van Damme's best, focusing on story and not action, but I guess his presence makes a lot of people overlook it. My rating: 8/10.

The ridiculously low rating on IMDb at the time of this posting (5.0) aside, this has long been in my opinion the highest quality of all of Van Damme's flicks. By highest quality I don't mean best fight scene, most over the top cheesy premise, best gore, or anything else. I mean best quality as in an actual quality movie that just happened to star Jean Claude Van Damme.

The cinematography in the movie is excellent, so is the score, and in a real rarity in a Van Damme movie, so for the most part is the acting. Rosanna Arquette plays damsel in distress without ever being weak or pathetic and injects a nice touch of forlorn longing into it, the younger Culkin turns in one of the better child performances you are likely to see from an 8-9 year old, and they get two nice performances from the main baddies, who play evil as steely eyed rather than screaming slobbering over the top. And of course the biggest surprise is Van Damme himself, who probably gave the best performance of his career, although that is both faint praise and I think at least in part because he found a role where his character not emoting fit perfectly.

This is not a 10, although I must admit to being tempted to give it one as part of the stupid IMDb pump the ratings of a film you liked game. The plot is largely derivative of a number of old westerns (Shane comes to mind), the action sequences are fine but not thrilling (I think a large part of the low rating comes from disappointed action junkies), and in general this is a movie aiming lower than a 10 as I would define it. Its trying to be good, not great, but don't let the naysayers confuse you -- it largely succeeds, and is perhaps the only Van Damme movie you can watch (even the entertaining ones) that does not leave cheese dripping down the screen. Solid entertainment.

In real life, Jean Claude Van Damme is not only a great martial arts sensation, but on the talk show circuit he is remarkably witty, charismatic and entertaining. Yet astonishingly a movie like "Nowhere to Run" does not exploit any of Jean Claude Van Damme's strengths in either area. To be sure, the plot for "Nowhere to Run" is little more than the familiar story of the stranger Sam Gillen (Jean Claude Van Damme) visiting small town America to save the home of Clydie (the sexy Rosanna Arquette) and her two children from developers, who are obviously evil because they are led by Franklin Hale (Joss Ackland) who has a strong British accent -- and one of the unwritten rules in Hollywood is that all British people in the movies are evil. Yet even if one excuses the predictable plot, surely director Robert Harmon and writers Joe Eszterhas, Robert Marquand, Leslie Bohem, and Randy Feldman could have done something to make the movie more interesting. "Nowhere to Run" has lots of action scenes, but why not have Jean Claude Van Damme perform his beautifully choreographed karate in any of them? Van Damme is also a remarkably charismatic and witty individual, but why not show that side of him by giving him more things to say and allowing him just to be himself. I was astonished to see that most of Van Damme's dialogue included one, two or three words strewn together. Could Joe Eszterhas, who is paid millions for his scripts, come up with anything better than that? Could any of the screen writers (four in all!) work together to come up with anything better? "Nowhere to Run" apparently cost $15 million to make, but its performances are on par with a low-budget Canadian film with B- or C-grade actors. And it is a great shame because Jean-Claude is probably one of the most interesting personalities to emerge in the 1980s and 1990s. He has the confidence, charisma and dynamism of a shooting star, but instead of allowing him to be himself, the producers, the writers and director hamstrung this movie sensation with terrible scripts that give him nothing to say and replace his awesome karate with brain numbing punching scenes and shoot em up scenes.

There are only few saving graces in this mess. Clydie (Rosanna Arquette) has a certain sex appeal. Van Damme's line that he is the parking intendant looking out for his customers was cute. The kids were also entertaining. But for the most part, "Nowhere to Run" is a big disappointment that gratuitously wastes the acting talent.