As for the movie itself, it's 86 minutes of pretty much what you'd expect. Opening with a horror movie cliche — four unwary teens looking to hook up in a dark, spooky cemetery — My Name Is Bruce is not a film for general audiences. Filled with endless nods to the Evil Dead movies and other Campbell flicks and some signature Campbell/Raimi tropes like Three Stooges references and a healthy dose of slapstick comedy, this movie is far too self-referential and "inside baseball" to appeal to the casual movie-goer, who is likely to feel left out in the cold. Instead it plays like an homage of sorts to Campbell's legions of fans who are clearly the targeted demographic here.
Loosely, the story is about a very down-on-his-luck B-movie actor named Bruce Campbell. This Bruce is a simulacrum of his namesake; he lives in a decrepit trailer with a dog that likes to booze, drunk-dials his ex-wife in the middle of the night, and acts in movies that make most B-movies look like Oscar material. He is kidnapped by a teenage fan (the sole survivor of the events that transpire in the opening scene) who mistakes the real-life Campbell for his onscreen persona and drags him back to the rural town of Gold Lick to beat the evil unleashed in that dark, spooky cemetery — the ghost of a Chinese warrior named Guan-Di. Guan-Di is out to avenge the souls of the Chinese laborers who were killed in a mining accident years before. He's also the protector of bean curd. Hilarity ensues.
Along the way, there are enough inside jokes for the ardent fan to trip over (I'm sure the film warrants repeated viewings on that basis alone), and some ethnic humor that would surely be offensive if anyone bothered to take it seriously. Ted Raimi is on hand in more than one role, and Ellen Sandweiss, who was in the first Evil Dead movie, makes an appearance as Bruce's ex-wife. We discovered during the Q&A that the projectionist had switched a couple of reels; it says much about the movie's plot that most of the audience failed to notice and had a good time anyway.
Article comments
1 - Josh Lasser
It's always great when you can rearrange reels of a film and not have anyone realize.
2 - Lisa McKay
What's funny is that when he mentioned the reels, I could pinpoint the exact moment in the movie where I thought to myself that the editing left much to be desired. I'll be picking up the DVD for sure, so it'll be interesting to see how much more sense the plot makes in the right order.
3 - El Bicho
I saw him speak at Comic Con '07 when they were pushing Brisco on DVD. He killed. His Old Spice commercials are funny. Will have to give this a gander when he comes to town.
4 - Jordan Richardson
I LOVE Bruce Campbell. Sounds like a riot!
5 - Arlo J. Wiley
Bruce Campbell is something of a god.
He's coming a few hours away from here in the next few days, but unfortunately I won't be able to go. Sounds like he doesn't disappoint!