My Name Is Bruce

Dir: Bruce Campbell

2007

***

I'm a huge Bruce Campbell fan and will happily watch everything he's ever been in and defend it. However, he has made some truly awful films, some that are so awful they are just awful - rather than so bad they're good. This isn’t something that is easy for me to admit, I love him. 2007's My Name Is Bruce should have been something special for us hard-core fans, indeed, if you don't know who Bruce Campbell is, or know who he is and don't much care for him, this film won't appeal, because it isn't made for you, but for us true followers it should have been something of a holy-grail or at the very least a defining moment where Bruce could be himself and shine through as his own character. Instead, it is a poorly written and ill-conceived mish-mash of ideas that come across as a mix of Evil Dead and Bubba Ho-Tep but no-where near as good as either. I expected the self-referencing and the exaggerated version of Bruce – that was fine and handled well, it was just the rubbish story that really let it down. A forth wall-breaking existential comedy horror is what was promised, rather than a weak horror themed version of The Man Who Knew too Little. However, in many respects it is a quintessential Bruce Campbell film in that Bruce is Bruce, it is a comedy horror, the story is awful and it co-stars Ted Raimi. It is another Bruce Campbell vehicle, and of course, us fans will lap up every single minute of it. It’s just that it should and could have been so much more, the cult film of all cult films. I thought Bruce was great in it (as always) and the horror aspect was strong. I liked how it was directed and I’m just as much a Ted Raimi fan as I am a Bruce Campbell fan. It’s just so damn frustrating that even though it has some of my favourite elements of cinema, the story is still so weak that ultimately it is as forgettable as they come. I feel a little taken advantage of. The truth is all of us Bruce Campbell fans have been taken advantage of over the years but to be honest the man could punch me in the face and spit on my shoes and I’d still ask for his autograph. That said, My Name is Bruce did represent the last film in a series of productions that basically got by thanks to his fan’s obsession and not because they were any good. I did enjoy the sport of spotting all of the in-jokes and film associations but they were all a bit too easy – even the ones that referenced his books. He could make a sequel and I’d be the first in line to see it in the cinema and I’d probably see it again and buy all versions of the DVD and Blu-ray but I would want a little more for my money. Hail to the King baby but please can we have a half-decent script for our majesty?