Bruce Campbell is the greatest actor of his generation! So argues Jeff (Taylor Sharpe), BC’s number one fan. So when Jeff unwittingly unleashes a Chinese god of war hell-bent on decapitating everyone in the small mining town of Gold Lick, who should Jeff turn to?
Queue Bruce on the set of his latest movie – Cave Alien. 2. Bruce is a down-on-his-luck, sleazy b-movie actor, with an even slimier agent – Mills Toddner (Ted Raimi).
Drunk, divorced and living out of a run-down trailer, he’s starting to think he’s lost his way, lamenting his “wonderful, wonderful fans”. And he’s not too thrilled when kidnapped by one of those fans and hauled off to the “fart-hole” of Gold Lick, Oregon.
His mood soon lightens, however, when he mistakenly believes the whole thing to be a set-up, as part of his birthday surprise from Mills. Now full of his usual bravado, Bruce sets about enjoying the weekend, hitting on Jeff’s mother, Kelly Graham (Grace Thorsen), interacting with the locals, and preparing to face Guan-Di – God of War, protector of the Dead, and patron saint of Bean Curd.
My Name is Bruce Cast
Here then we have Bruce Campbell doing what he does best - being Bruce Campbell (or at least an overblown version of himself that’s one-step-away from turning into a cartoon – making him not too dissimilar from the Ash that we see in the latter parts of the Evil Dead trilogy).
Of course, he’s nothing short of what any fan of Bruce would expect in this sort of a role, so he will seem somewhat peurile to some, magnificent to others.
The ever-reliable (and, arguably, generally underused) Ted Raimi still appears in two supporting roles, as Bruce’s agent and as Wing, the last descendent of the Chinese immigrants who died in a mining accident over a century ago (hence the summoning of Guan-Di). He also appears as the local italian sign painter in one of film’s many chaplin-esque routines.
The rest of the cast fit right into their ultimately ridiculous roles with ease, with appearances for Evil Dead fans from Dan Hicks (the inimitable Jake from Dead by Dawn) and Timothy Patrick Quill, who featured as the Blacksmith in Army of Darkness.
It’s also great to see a cameo from Ellen Sandweiss as Bruce’s ex-wife.
Director Bruce Campbell and Screenwriter Mark Verheiden
This sort of thing has been Bruce’s raison-d’etre, so it’s unsurprising that he knows how it ought to look and run. The film moves along with Raimi-like pace, if not quite the aplomb. Here's to hoping that Bruce continues his directing, helping to usher in the next generation of precious breeding that is the b-movie.
Mark Verheiden’s screenplay also provides perfect fodder for Bruce, allowing for scenes that echo his most loved scenarios, such as addressing crowds and generally adhering to a not-so-subtle composite character of misplaced courage and unbounded cowardice. Speaking of which…
My Name is Bruce Summary
The film’s highlight must be seeing Bruce go above and beyond the call of cowardice upon realizing that Guan-di is real and there’s a selection of lines and scenes to add to the Campbell mythos throughout.
There are endless gags that are also aimed at Bruce’s career, much of which centres on films he did actually make, such as Bubba Ho-Tep, The Man with the Screaming Brain (which Bruce also directed), Moonwarp, Assault on Dome 4, and more. Even Serving Sarah gets a mention (and Bruce makes it clear that he did it for the money).
Not that this – sometimes very low and anachronistic – brand of comedy appeals to everyone, but it will certainly be embraced by most, if not all, Bruce-fans.
However, there was a critical mistake in the film. You see, there’s a chainsaw – which doesn’t get used. The mistake here is not so much that it’s left on the shelf, but that it’s introduced at all. After all, inclusion of said chainsaw might well have turned the entire movie into a cameo from Bruce’s most famous alter-ego, but, in this opinion, never entice an audience and not deliver. Also, the ending of the film is a little weak and could’ve used some industrial-style chainsaw mayhem.
Even without the chainsaw, dare it be said that My Name is Bruce almost feels like a warm-up for a certain fourth film ? Okay, maybe not, but Producer Mike Richardson said that a sequel, titled My Name is Still Bruce, is in the works.
For more details on the film’s release and the man himself, you can visit the Bruce Campbell website.
- Producer: Mike Richardson, Bruce Campbell
- Director: Bruce Campbell
- Screenplay: Mark Verheiden
- Starring: Bruce Campbell, Ted Raimi, Taylor Sharpe, Grace Thorsen, Ben L. McCain
- Released: (General) Oct 2008 by Dark Horse Entertainment & Image Entertainment
- Running Time: 86 min
