My Name is Bruce

Bruce Campbell is the bumbling epitome of ‘cheeseball charm’. His cinematic appeal in cult movies like the Evil Dead Trilogy stems almost entirely from his vast charisma as a hapless goof. He has crafted his popular persona through a genuine skill for physical comedy and a unique brand of likeable buffoonery. His autobiographies ‘If Chins Could Kill’ and ‘Making Love..The Bruce Campbell Way’ are self deprecating and self aggrandising in equal measure, but consistently funny. Even his cameo as Spiderman 3’s snooty French waiter almost stole the entire film from an emo Peter Parker. So, as I settle down for ‘My name is Bruce’ I prepare myself for more B movie magic and another wave of the Campbell charm.

When the backwater town of Goldlick accidentally awakens a bloodthirsty Chinese god of war, they kidnap movie star Bruce Campbell in the mistaken belief that he’s a zombie slaying real life hero. He plays along, convinced it’s all just another atrocious monster film. With Bruce playing himself and directing the whole show, this promising idea is unfortunately mostly squandered with disappointing results.

At the beginning of ‘My Name is Bruce’ our titular hero is a drunken, moronic misogynist. Campbell sacrifices his likeability in a misguided attempt to subvert and parody the popular perceptions of himself. His usual affable idiocy strays dangerously into the unwelcome territory of obnoxiousness. Watching Bruce drunk dial his ex-wife and hurl pathetic come-ons at every woman on screen is not pleasant or remotely amusing. Mercifully, as the film plays out, Bruce learns the error of his ways; he remains typically clueless but a little less crass. Perhaps complacent in his own appeal, Bruce plays the ‘jerk’ a little too real, making his redemption a tough task even for him.

‘My Name is Bruce’ trades a little too carelessly on the affection of Campbell’s cultish devotees. Films like 'Army of Darkness' are enjoyable because they are cartoonish satires of traditional horror movies and their wooden action stars. We forgive them their own flaws because these are films that know exactly how silly they are and embrace it. In attempting to poke fun at those movies and Campbell’s own fanbase this film stretches the in-joke past the breaking point. Most of the film’s self-referential humour will be lost on anyone who isn’t already a Campbell fan.

Long time Campbell collaborator Ted Rami appears in the film as a series of characters with comedy accents; at best this can be seen as silliness, but at its worst slightly racist. It’s another unnecessary stumble, but despite this, the film manages to become more watchable in its second half. By the end of the film it has mitigated much of the damage of its poor opening stages without living up to its abundant potential. If you want to celebrate Bruce Campbell’s true genius, you’re probably better off re-watching Army of Darkness or Bubba Ho-Tep.

I can’t help but feel that ‘My Name is Bruce’ was made purely to mop up the Campbell fanbase money. Made in 2007, it has only recently emerged, wisely side-stepping cinemas for the straight to DVD market. Since then, Bruce has been lending his voice to the odd cartoon and starring in hit US spy show Burn Notice. According to recent reports, it is unlikely that 'Evil Dead 4' will ever happen, but you never know... “hail to the King baby”.