Published via Ecency

(source: tmdb.org)

Tragic death of Bruce Lee created such void among his global fandom that it had to be filled by entire new quasi-genre of films called Brucesploitation. Most of those belonged to the genre of martial arts, but some were comedies, like They Call Me Bruce, 1982 American film directed by Eliott Hong. The protagonist, played by Korean American comedian Johnny Yune, is an East Asian immigrant who came to America in order to fulfil promise to dying grandfather and find “his lady”. Due to very passing resemblance to the cinema legend, he is called “Bruce” and sometimes mistaken for martial arts expert. In reality, Bruce can’t practice martial arts out of paper bag and is forced to survive on his wits. His real talent is cooking Chinese noodles, something recognised by his employers, Italian American mobsters operating in California. After being raided by Federal law enforcement, they decide to use Bruce to smuggle large amounts of cocaine all over country. He is given task of delivering “Chinese floor” to various addresses in America, with the last delivery to be made in New York. Bruce, unaware what the “floor” stands for, is accompanied by Freddy (played by Raf Mauro), mobster who acts as his chauffeur. During the journey they are followed by two women – one is Federal agent Anita (played by Pam Huntignton), and another is Karmen (played by Margaux Hemingway), assassin in the employ of rival mob boss.

Made with relatively small budget and even smaller ambition, They Call Me Bruce doesn’t pretend to offer audience anything particularly deep in its content. Actually, the script by David B. Randolph goes very low and builds most of the humour on the ethnic and racial stereotypes that probably made some of the viewers slightly uncomfortable even decades ago and that would certainly make “wokesters” apoplectic now. Many jokes aren’t particularly funny, but those that work manage to save general impression of this film to a certain degree. Yune, who also took part in writing script, is quite enthusiastic in his role and even manages to create something like a good chemistry with Raf Mauro, whose character convincingly transforms from comical henchman into as straight man. Depending on the audience’s mood, this film can be either accepted in its unapologetic silliness or rejected as obviously subpar to most 1980s Hollywood comedies. Those who are able to withstand jokes at the expense of Asians, Italian Americans, Southern rednecks, Jews, African Americans and women with small breasts might be rewarded with patriotic finale which could be interpreted as celebration of America as multi-ethnic and multi-cultural country. The film, despite being savaged by critics and almost forgotten now, had decent success at the box office, enough to warrant 1987 sequel under title They Still Call Me Bruce.

RATING: 5/10 (++)