When Bruce Campbell announced that he was set to write, direct and star in a spoof biopic about himself, fans were naturally excited. Especially when it became clear that what My Name Is Bruce actually aimed to do was to completely mock the idea that his cult following seems to believe that Campbell is actually as heroic, hammy and arrogant as Ash from Evil Dead. The film is very good, although it admittedly doesn't quite live up to the hype that it generated prior to release. Effectively, Bruce plays himself - but as a nasty, self-absorbed z-movie actor starring in fictional films such as Cave Alien II. He lives in a trailer, feeds his dog bourbon and generally treats his fans with contempt. Bruce Campbell super-fan Jeff inadvertently wakes the Chinese god of the dead, Guan-Di, and immediately begs his idol to help him to save the world. Initially believing it to be a movie pitch, Campbell agrees... Only to find himself thrust into the role of a real-life Ash, forced to fight the undead despite his obvious ineptitude. There are some problems with the film, including several borderline racist jokes, but the multiple references to Bruce's other work are excellent. See, for instance, Jeff's eye-rolling response to his friend's insistence that he liked Bubba Ho-Tep: "EVERYONE liked Bubba Ho-Tep", or Campbell's outstanding "You know Jeff, I've gotten a lot of use out of chainsaws over the years. Killed a lot of zombies, saved a lot of lives. But at the end of the day when push comes to shove... They're just too damn heavy." This is a clever piece of cinema from Campbell, and offers just another example of his self-deprecating nature.
