His Name...Is Bruce!

The film they said was probably not going to happen, and had just about as much internet nerd anticipation buzz as Alien Vs. Predator (admit it you kept tabs on it…) “My Name Is Bruce” has finally hit the theaters.
I was fortunate enough to get a ticket to one of the NYC shows that screened this past weekend and it didn’t take long to see that the Campbell fans were out in force to show their support. Many in uniform, that being jeans, sneakers, trench coat, and a t-shirt from any of the following films, Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, Evil Dead the Musical (obviously not a movie so extra points there!), and of course Army of Darkness.

I myself am a Bruce Campbell fan so I was excited to see the movie, but even happier to find out Bruce himself has Q&A sessions happening at every showing on his 22 city tour. I haven’t seen Bruce do a Q&A for a film before so I was really looking forward to it.
Not long after my wife and I took our seats and the audience chatter began to rise, a door near the screen flew open and Bruce Campbell emerged waving to his fans “Hey everybody!” The audience cheered and clapped welcoming him with an energy usually reserved for a favorite band or home town team.
After a brief introduction and the promise of a rousing Q&A afterwards, the film began, and I’m happy to say, it was exactly what I was hoping for.

The story takes place in the tiny Oregon town of Gold Lick where a group of teens bent on vandalism and getting laid find themselves to be the first victims of the vengeful spirit of Guan-di, (the Chinese God of War and protector of the dead) Guan-di is sworn to destroy any who desecrate the tomb of a group of Chinese miners lost in a cave-in during the days of the American gold rush. After unleashing Guan-di on the unsuspecting townsfolk, Uber Bruce Campbell fan Jeff (Taylor Sharpe) decides there’s only one person to turn to when there’s a monster taking out your kin folk, Bruce Campbell.

Unfortunately for Jeff and the town of Gold Lick, the “real life” Bruce is a booze swilling, womanizing jerk who could give a hang about the welfare of anyone, much less a town of inbred hicks with a monster problem.

There were lots of great moments in this film that I really enjoyed, a couple of stand-outs are Bruce’s encounter with a wheelchair bound fan, priceless, and when he leads the town to meet the War God in combat, awesome. As for Bruce’s directing, I do feel he has great comedic timing, but what I truly appreciated was all the good stuff fans can pick out of this film. Writers and directors have learned this from the recent rise of the comic book film. Slip in a reference that only a true fan will understand and you get his juices flowing!
I was the guy sitting behind you during Iron Man who said “oh shit!” when the blueprint for Captain America’s shield was on Tony Starks drawing table, sorry for the outburst but I love that stuff!
For one, the character Jeff’s room is full to the brim with Bruce paraphernalia from pretty much everything he’s ever done. I saw a few hands go up and point at certain posters or items in that scene commenting with a raised whisper where each item came from.

The film is also as close to an Evil Dead reunion as were probably ever going to get. Ted Raimi (too many characters to mention) playing thee roles in the film including one character who holds the key to Guan-di’s Achilles heel, Danny Hicks (Jake from Evil Dead 2), Tim Quill ( The Blacksmith from A.O.D.) and Ellen Sandweiss (Cheryl from Evil Dead) all make appearances. Even Bruce’s dog in the film “Sam and Rob” helped to make a fan feel at home.
Also as to be expected in a Campbell or Raimi production, the Three Stooges were represented as well. You’re going to have to find those on your own, that’s all part of the fun. “Fun” is that thing media vomitioriums like the New York Times seem to forget about as a viable element in film, judging by their negative reviews. I mean c’mon guys just because a film isn’t centered on the subjects of depression, suicide, or the displeasure of the administration doesn’t make it any less of an independent film and should be treated with a little more respect and not be reviewed by people who dislike genre entertainment.

All in all I would say “My Name Is Bruce” is a great Love/Hate note to Bruce Campbell fans everywhere, and I suggest you check it out.

After the film ended Bruce reclaimed the stage and went right into questions. The fans acted as expected, fairly insane, one woman brought her own bottle of homemade blueberry liquor as a gift, one may or may not have brought a few pages of homo-erotic fan fiction and another woman gave him an invitation to some kind of live performance featuring an angry nun who kills zombies and that was just one showing, I can imagine the collection of weirdness he had stacked up by the end of the weekend.
Watching Bruce interact with the fans that made him the “king of the B-Movie actors” is always a treat, mostly because Bruce realizes that he can do absolutely no wrong in their eyes and he uses that to his advantage. I’m going to do my best to post a sample of the Q&A session as soon as possible, so check back.