DVD Review: ‘My Name is Bruce’

Hey, sugar lips! ‘My Name is Bruce’ isn’t a great movie… it’s not even necessarily a “good” movie… but, it’s Bruce Campbell and that’s good enough for me. This is the second feature film that Campbell has directed, the first being ‘The Man With the Screaming Brain’ which I actually enjoyed more than this one. The key factor in appreciating Bruce’s movies is that you be a fan of Bruce. Otherwise, you’ll probably give up within the first 20-30 minutes. This, coincidentally, is sort of what ‘My Name is Bruce’ is all about and ultimately what it banks on for it’s distribution success.

‘My Name is Bruce’ is written and directed by, and stars, Bruce Campbell as himself, in a “mostly” fictionalized way. In the movie, Campbell is a mediocre b-movie actor who’s down on his luck and his career couldn’t be more trashed. He lives in an old trailer and is stuck making crappy sequels to movies like ‘Cave Alien’. His agent, played by Ted Raimi, isn’t helping matters much, but tells Bruce he has a very special birthday surprise lined up for him. Soon after, Bruce in kidnapped by a fan and hauled off into a small rural town called Gold Lick to save them from Guan-di, the Chinese God of War, protector of the dead… and patron saint of bean curd.

This movie is filled with slap-dandy loads of Bruce Campbell dialogue, on-liners, sarcasm and pathetically failed attempts to score. Campbell manages to squeeze in virtually every one of his trademark phrases. The entire movie is basically an effort to make fun of himself and Bruce does a great job of that. Overall, this is my least favorite of Bruce Campbell’s movies. However, while it’s still fun to watch for fans of Campbell, the DVD extras are the best part of this DVD from Image Entertainment and Dark Horse Independent.

DVD Features:

• Feature-length commentary with director/actor Bruce Campbell and producer Mike Richardson
• Documentary: Heart of Dorkness The Making of My Name is Bruce
• Featurettes: Bruce On…, Beyond Inside the Cave: The Making of CaveAlien 2, Kif s Korner, Awkward Moments with Kif, Love Birds, Hard Truth News from Hollywood The Real Bruce Campbell
• CaveAlien 2 Trailer, My Name is Bruce Trailer
• Poster Art Gallery, Props Art Gallery, Photo Gallery

The DVD also includes a collectible 24-page ‘My Name is Bruce’ comic book, and… if you order it in time, you’ll also get a mini-poster for the movie signed by Bruce Campbell. Better hurry though, because I’m sure these mini-posters are limited and while the DVD just came out on Tuesday, it’s already on back-order!

[Overall: 3.25 stars out of 5]