October 28, 2008
My Name is Bruce
"You chatter just like a little monkey. That's my name for you; chattering monkey."
Starring: Bruce Campbell, Grace Thorsen, Ted Raimi, Taylor Sharpe
Rating: 7.5/10
Directed By: Bruce Campbell
Runtime: 90 minutes
Starring: Bruce Campbell, Grace Thorsen, Ted Raimi, Taylor Sharpe
Rating: 7.5/10
Directed By: Bruce Campbell
Runtime: 90 minutes
It's almost unfair living in a city that has the Alamo Drafthouse because of all the cool events they host and on October 26th the whole Cybermonkey crew headed off to see the theatrical premier of My Name is Bruce with Mr. Campbell himself in attendance. It's always a treat to see Bruce Campbell spew forth his unique brand of wisdom and any film he stars in is usually a campy good time so you'd better believe we hit the first show. The film draws a parallel with the excellent JCVD (which I urge you all to see) in that the lead is a prima donna whose personal life is in a shambles and professional career does not provide the respect an actor desires but whereas JCVD is a redemption film and a major comeback for Jean Claude Van Damme (no kidding!), My Name is Bruce goes the other direction entirely, providing pure entertainment with a star whose popularity continues to increase daily (indeed, Tim League told us we hold a sellout record of 3 minutes). 
The story centers, as do all scary movies, around some kids fucking around in an old Chinese graveyard and accidentally raising the demon spirit of Guan-Di, Chinese God of War and Bean Curd who has a predilection for chopping people's heads off. Seeing no alternative after his buddies croak, Jeff (Taylor Sharpe) takes action by tracking down the greatest monster slayer he knows, Bruce Campbell. The "real" Bruce Campbell, meanwhile, is busy being a total dick to his co-workers, fans and agent, getting his dog drunk and then fighting it for the bowl when his booze is gone, calling his ex-wife in a drunken stupor and railing at an industry that shows him no critical respect; in other words, he has no time for some kid's bullshit. So Jeff kidnaps him and delivers him to the quaint Oregon burg of Gold Lick where he meets Jeff's hot mom (Grace Thorsen), suffers mass confusion as to why he's there, pisses off everyone in town, comes to grips with the reality of Guan-Di and totally flees the scene. Can Bruce Campbell overcome Bruce Campbell to save the town of Gold Lick from the evil of Guan-Di? Does he even care? To quote the man himself with a favorite Q&A response, "who gives a fuck?"
The idea and script by Dark Horse alums Mark Verheiden and Mike Richardson is clever while bowing to the right clichés and there are a lot of nods for the observant fanboys and gals out there, though they could have had more fun with Bruce and his fans at the beginning. Given the sarcastic nature of the personable Bruce Campbell and his real life opinions on fandom, there was a much greater opportunity for comedy in that section of the film than the script allowed. Bruce the director showed a deft hand in accentuating the strengths of his script and actors and covering the relatively low budget nature of this picture (Guan-Di, in particular, was lit and shot to minimize the campier elements and for the most part effectively create a menacing supernatural threat). Grace Thorsen was amusing and captured attention (translation: she was smokin' but also projected a stern sweetness I found irresistable) but Taylor Sharpe suffers from the typical "lead kid syndrome" in that you end up more annoyed with him than anything but you're thankful it isn't Shia LaBeouf. Ted Raimi, as usual, the unsung hero of the picture, playing multiple scene-stealing roles but dearest to heart was Gold Lick's Chinese prophet Wing, whom he plays with a "Charlie Chan meets Peter Sellers" gravitas that cracked me up every time he appeared.
In the spirited Q&A that followed (where Bruce played a game in which he turned his back and we shouted the names of movies of his we wanted refunds for) Mr. Campbell joked he'd be doing a part 2 by this time next year and I do hope it's true. Man with a Screaming Brain did disappoint a large segment of his fans as well as Bruce, who assured us (and you) that this film was "more watchable" and it is a larger budgeted picture intended for theatrical release ( "No fucking Sci-Fi Network anywhere near this.") so it's a "real" Bruce Campbell movie this time. Anyone who's a fan of the man will enjoy this film for what it is - a good time. It's not groundbreaking but you will laugh and snicker at the nods and it's Bruce Campbell playing "himself!" If you can't get behind that you're not a Bruce Campbell fan, period. Make time to see My Name is Bruce this fall for a quality good time in the theater, and get your $9 worth for a change.