If Chins Could Talk

I guess I should start out: You either get Bruce Campbell or you don't. If you don't, you won't be interested in My Name Is Bruce.

The story is familiar - a small town is threatened, and they call on the only hero they know. But the hero is not a hero, he only plays one in movies. They have mistaken the character for the actor. I don't know how far this goes back, the only example I can think of is Three Amigos.

So, Bruce Campbell plays Bruce Campbell, a down-and-out, egotistical asshole of a C-movie actor. It is unclear how much of this is intended as fiction. He is kidnapped by a teen fan, who wants him to save the little town of Gold Lick from an undead monster (who has a little theme song and everything). Bruce takes this as a kind of joke/audience participation theater piece and plays along with it (like The Man Who Knew Too Little). He soon finds out that he's in way over his head. He tries to run away, but the teen fan's mom has an amazing rack... So it's time to go Ash on the monster.

This little gem, directed by Campbell, is full of little Bruce Campbell in-jokes. For instance, he drinks "Shemp" brand bourbon. A "false Shemp" is Campbell/Raimi's term for an actor whose face isn't shown, who could be played by anyone. A lot of these jokes are explained in the "Making of" featurette: Heart of Dorkness. Since the movie is only about 70 minutes long, you should watch Heart as well. Besides, it's just about as funny as the movie.

In conclusion, a must for all Bruce Campbell fans. For non-fans, try Bubba Ho-Tep.