My Name Is Bruce

Mr. Campbell makes soup. My name is Bruce.

The quaint little town of Gold Lick, Oregon, has a problem. After a group of horny teenagers trying to get laid in a cemetery accidentally let an ancient Chinese spirit of war and bean curd loose upon their homes, Gold Lick's small population (339) gets a little smaller every day. Thus, a local Bruce Campbell fan named Jeff decides to do the logical thing: recruit the man himself, presently shooting his latest film masterpiece, Cave Alien 2, to fight the demon off.

Sadly for him, Bruce is hardly the fearless action hero Jeff remembers from Evil Dead; he's a narcissistic, nervous wreck with a failing career and love life who spends his evenings drunk-dialing his ex-wife. Unaware of the danger at hand, believing instead that he's performing in a top secret movie project, Bruce meanders through Gold Lick, arming himself to the teeth in preparation for his confrontation with the demon Guan-Di. Little does he realize, of course, that shit is about to get way too real.

Just another ordinary day in the life of a hero.

There's a sequel on its way, titled My Name is Still Bruce: Bruce vs. Frankenstein. Groovy.

---

This film contains examples of:

• Acting for Two: Ted Raimi plays three roles.
• Adam Westing - Bruce Campbell plays himself as a drunk, surly, borderline broke B-actor living in a trailer.
• Almost Kiss - Mercilessy played with Bruce and Kelly.

Bruce: For the love of God man! I can smell her chapstick!

• Awesome but Impractical: "You know Jeff, I've gotten a lot of use out of chainsaws over the years. Killed a lot a zombies, saved a lot of lives, but at the end of the day when push comes to shove... they're just too damn heavy."
• Genre Savvy - Jeff, except his choice of heroes turns out not to translate well into real life. Bruce later plays the trope straight when he finally snaps into hero mode.
• Good Angel, Bad Angel - Bruce gets these when thinking about returning to Gold Lick.
• Jerkass - Bruce Campbell himself. In his Q&A screenings, he went out of his way to state that this is a highly fictionalized version of himself.
• Large Ham: Bruce is like this in person as well as on the screen.
• Magnificent Bastard: Invoked by name by Bruce after Jeff mentions Bruce's agent, Miles.
• Odd Job Gods - Guan-Di, the Chinese spirit of war... and bean curd.
• Shout-Out:
  • Several of Bruce's movies get mentioned frequently. Mostly Bubba Ho-Tep and his films with Sam Raimi.
  • The brand name of the liquor that Bruce drinks is "Shemp." The Sam Raimi films in which Bruce stars coined the term Fake Shemp.
  • Jeff drives an Olds Delta 88, a beige one, natch. This car is a trademark car of Sam Raimi films.
• Stock Scream: The famous "Wilhelm Scream" was used when Bruce accidentally shot a little kid's father.
• There's No B in Movie - All of Bruce's films.
• Town with a Dark Secret - Gold Lick
• Villain Song - Guan-Di Is His Name
• Weaksauce Weakness - Guan-Di cannot hurt anyone who eats bean curd, or allow any bean curd to come to harm.
• Your Cheating Heart/Anything That Moves

Bruce: Why did we ever break up? Cheryl: You slept with the dog sitter. Bruce: One lousy mistake! Cheryl: All of them. Bruce: Ten lousy mistakes!

• Your Secrets Safe With Me Superman