Van Damme may be famous enough that he can afford to continue noodling around with different roles and performance styles. But his fellow cast members deserve a lot better than We Die Young.

Brutal Van Damme film is heavy on violence, drugs, language.

It aims to add social context to an otherwise hackneyed gangster film. The attempt is sincere, but given its reliance on random snapshots of extravagant suffering, that objective also goes belly up.

"Young" provides Van Damme with a needed acting challenge, putting his natural screen presence to good use in a more socially-minded bruiser that's timed to tap into current national fears.