CineVegas Adam Looks @ My Name Is Bruce

Bruce Alrightee then -

Featuring reviews of Look and handles My Name is Bruce! with care.

LOOK (R)

Look is not at all what I expected. After reading a synopsis about the film, I was lead to believe this flick would be a documentary comprised of actual surveillance footage pulled from various security camera systems from around the country. When I read that, I thought it sounded really interesting. Sort of like 1984: The True Story.

As it turns out, Look is not a documentary at all. This became clear to me during the opening scene, when two hot teenage girls begin prancing around naked in front of a department store dressing room mirror, apparently unaware that they're being filmed by a hidden surveillance camera.

What follows, is a series of disconnected vignettes (some comical and some surprisingly provocative) that ultimately intersect. The hook? Every moment of the film is shot from the point of view of surveillance cameras. This makes for an interesting experience, because these cameras play characters in the film. They're witnesses to the strange goings on around them. In some of the scenarios, these cameras prove to be the chief source of resolution, while in others, they are simply there as a neutral observer.

Look chronicles a week in the life of several characters including a Gas Mart employee and his buddy, a shopping mall stalker, a pair of car-jackers, a high school teacher and his pregnant wife, two naughty high school students, a nerdy office employee, and a few other assorted folk, and the film weaves these characters and their scenarios in a loose but skilled fashion.

What's most fascinating about Look is how it's tone turns on a dime. Seriously, one moment this picture plays like a frat boy comedy (complete with dirty jokes and extreme sexual situations), then not but a minute later, it'll lay on a thick dose of social commentary. The film makers might have been wise to call this movie Kentucky Fried Crash (to the legions of Crash haters out there, all I can tell you is that I'm a big fan of the Paul Haggis film).

Look was written and directed by Adam Rifkin, and during a brief Q & A after the movie, the film maker revealed that in the early stages of the project, the plan was to shoot the entire film with actual surveillance cameras. Of course, that's easier said than done. Ultimately, it was decided that Look would be shot with standard digital equipment, from the perspective of surveillance camera angles. The footage was then altered during post to give the movie a surveillance camera feel.

Look is quite often out of control, but somehow, I was sucked in by it. Particularly during the more provocative sequences. The scenario featuring the high school teacher is dangerously compelling (if a tad overdone) and I was never quite sure where it was going to end up. The film also offers up big laughs and a few unexpected surprises, and the entire movie culminates in an ending that will, no doubt, frustrate some viewers. Let's just say that not all the various scenarios come full circle. One story line is left completely unresolved, and even I found that a bit disconcerting. On the other hand, this is a "A week in the life of..." expose, and while it does offer up some lessons, it's isn't necessarily a film about moral conclusions.

Look is a flawed, over the top, cynical look at the world, that engaged me throughout. Big brother is watching, and it's clear that he doesn't like what he sees.

Grade: B

EAGLE VS. SHARK (R)

The Boneman and Judy both reviewed this New Zealand indie in their reports so I'm only going to briefly skim over it. Eagle Vs. Shark is a quirky little movie, and the similarities between it and Napoleon Dynamite are undeniable. The film also has a slight Muriel's Wedding vibe as well. While I wouldn't say I enjoyed it as much as Napoleon or Muriel, it is full of enough zany, deadpan laughs to offer up a recommendation.

Grade: B-

CARELESS (R)

Careless is a subversive, romantic comedy starring Colin Hanks. In this odd little film, Hanks plays an unlucky in love individual who finds a severed finger in his apartment. Shortly thereafter, he meets a striking young woman at a party who just so happens to be missing a–you guessed it–finger. Could Hanks' severed appendage belong to the new twinkle in his eye? I'll never tell. Careless has elements of So I Married an Axe Murderer and Blue Velvet of all things, but it isn't as comical as the former or as surreal as the latter. Ultimately, the pacing is a bit off here, but Hanks is charming, and he's certainly acquired his dad's sense of comic timing. Read the Boneman's full review over in his report.

Grade: C+

MY NAME IS BRUCE (R)

Before actually getting into this review, it should be noted that this was a rough cut screening meaning temp music, incomplete scenes, and unfinished effects shots.

My Name is Bruce, not to be confused with the silly 80's comedy They Call Me Bruce, was without question, the film I was most excited about at CineVegas 2007. I'm a massive fan of the nutty Bruce Campbell. My fondness for this tenacious, physically adept comical actor dates back to 1981 when I first caught a glimpse of him in Sam Raimi's directorial debut, Evil Dead. It would be that film's follow-up (the appropriately titled Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn) however, that would make me a big time fan.

Through the years, I always thought Campbell would make that leap to big time star. You know, like Harrison Ford only funnier. He certainly has the look for it. For whatever reason though, he's remained more of a cult icon with projects like The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. and Army of Darkness tucked firmly under his belt. Mr. Campbell's latest film (which he also directed) sort of plays on his b-movie icon status.

In My Name is Bruce, Campbell plays the toughest role of his career; himself. Actually, he's portraying an exaggerated version of himself. That of a smug, selfish, but undeniably likable B movie actor.

As the film opens, four teenagers, residents of tiny Gold Lick Oregon, inadvertantley unleash an ancient demonic force while goofing around in the local graveyard. This supernatural creature takes it's wrath out on the adolescents, then turns it's sights on the rest of Gold Lick's townsfolk.

In a bid to save his town, a young horror enthusiast/Bruce Campbell fan, kidnaps Campbell from his trailer home, and tries to convince the actor to do his thing and put a stop to the supernatural invader. Meanwhile, most of the Gold Lick townsfolk are convinced that Campbell is actually Ash, the Deadite slaying soldier from Evil Dead.

What I wanted from My Name is Bruce is what the synopsis made it sound like. A fusion of Being John Malkovich, Evil Dead, Galaxy Quest, and Three Amigos with Campbell leading the charge. Sadly, the film comes up short.

This is strictly a Bruce Campbell fan affair. But then I'm a fan and I didn't succumb to it's easy to digest charms. Simply put, My Name is Bruce is not extreme or scary enough to appease the horror junkies in the audience but not clever or humorous enough to win over the Campbell fans. Not this fan anyway. Even the abundance of self referential humor (which worked like magic in the mockumentary/slice and dice slasher flick Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon) mostly falls flat.

Bruce Campbell's performance is fun enough, but I expected a bit more from Campbell the director. With all his experience on Sam Raimi sets, you'd think he'd be a little more CREATIVE behind the camera. Sadly, My Name is Bruce doesn't really bespeak much inspiration or style and the pacing is all over the place. There are a couple of nifty visual gags with the goofy looking monster, and I got a kick out of the bizarre Jonathan Richman style musical numbers that book end the movie. It was also amusing watching Campbell buddy Ted Raimi play multiple roles. Ultimately though, there really isn't too much to scream about in terms of visual bravado.

Campbell is capable of memorable work. Bubba Ho-Tep is a perfect example. Yes, that strange Don Coscarelli movie is odd to be sure, but it works on several levels, and Campbell commits 100%. In that movie, he defies mere impersonation. Campbell is Elvis in Bubba Ho-Tep. A feisty, elderly, mummy ass whooping version of the King. And quite frankly, he's much more compelling as an exaggerated version of Presley in Bubba than he is of himself in this flick. Furthermore, check out Campbell in those recent Old Spice ads. Not only are they hip and cool. They're simply hilarious. Somehow, this flick lacks the joy of Campbell's previously mentioned works.

Don't get me wrong. My Name is Bruce isn't dog shit as our moonlighting Zboneman.com contributor Tyler Sanders would have you believe. Sanders too is a big fan of Campbell and went so far as to not only suggest that the movie deserves an F, but that it was even worse than Campbell's last directorial effort, The Man With the Screaming Brain (which I must confess, I have yet to see). With all do respect to Tyler, I'm not entirely sure what he was expecting. This is a low budget love letter to Bruce Campbell fans, and while it's hardly a masterpiece, I wouldn't go so far as to say it's a piece of shit. Besides it's altogether possible that with an edit done with an eye toward cutting out the painfully cheezy and working to put some zip into the pacing that the film could be immeasurably improved. Stranger things have happened. Obviously Campbell is capable of much better work to be sure, but if you like really cheesy B-movies or if you're a Bruce Campbell fan who thinks the sun sets and rises with the chin, you could do much worse than My Name is Bruce.

Grade: C

The highlight of the My Name is Bruce screening came in the form of the Q & A that followed. Campbell was on hand to field a barrage of retarded questions from the eager audience. One guy even mustered up the courage to ask when we might get a Bruce Campbell nude scene to which the chin gleefully replied; " Are you gay?" Campbell has a quick wit about him and when you watch him speak at functions like this, it's like watching a great comedian at work. Campbell was also asked about a Bubba Ho-Tep sequel and I'm sad to report that his reply was not what I hoped for. He said that there hasn't really been any talk of it and that if it did happen, he probably wouldn't be involved. That sucks! On a final note, no one fielded any Evil Dead 4 questions which is probably a good thing, because I made that fatal mistake once. Back at the Bubba Ho-Tep premiere in 2002 I asked Mr. Campbell if Evil Dead 4 was in the cards, and almost immediately it became apparent to me that he's tired of being asked that fucking question. In his defense, I'm sure a day doesn't go by when someone doesn't come up to him and ask about the further adventures of Ash. Anyway, the Bruce Campbell Q & A definitely made the My Name is Bruce screening worth the price of admission.

I still have one more CineVegas report to go. I'll get to it just as soon as I get my reviews for Live Free or Die Hard up.