They Call Me Bruce? (1982)

A goofy Korean finds his life hopelessly complicated with people continually confusing him with Bruce Lee.

Director:

Elliott Hong

Writers:

David Randolph (screenplay), Johnny Yune (screenplay)

Stars:

Johnny Yune, Margaux Hemingway, Raf Mauro

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Johnny Yune	...	Bruce / Grandfather
Margaux Hemingway	...	Karmen
Raf Mauro	...	Freddy (as Ralph Mauro)
Pam Huntington	...	Anita
Martin Azarow	...	Big Al
Tony Brande	...	Boss of Bosses
Bill Capizzi	...	Lil Pete
Harvey Vernon	...	Officer Hangten
Heshimu Cumbuka	...	Curtis
Bob Hannah	...	Officer Carp
René Le Vant	...	Reverend
Vidonne Sayre Linn	...	Angela
Ivana Moore	...	Hooker
Phillip Simms	...	Baby Moe (as Phil Simms)
Ralph Strait	...	Officer #2

Storyline

A Korean man's resemblance to the legendary martial arts star Bruce Lee proves to be a mixed blessing when he stumbles onto the activities of the Mob.

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Plot Keywords:

bruce lee | martial arts | racist stereotype | racist humor | racial humor | 

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Taglines:

They also call me the man who ruined the reputation of every KUNG-FU expert!

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Genres:

Comedy | Action

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 November 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Fistful of Chopsticks

Filming Locations:

Liberty Island, New York Harbor, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$16,894,678

Company Credits

Production Co:

Goldpine Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of this Bruce Lee spoof movie's English titles was "A Fistful of Chopsticks" which was very similar to the title of the half-hour Bruce Lee spoof segment in The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977) which was called "A Fistful of Yen".

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Goofs

When the police car is driving on only two wheels, there are already marks on the road from a previous attempt.

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Quotes

Anita: My name's Anita. What's yours?
Bruce: They call me Bruce.
Anita: Bruce? Like Bruce Lee.
Bruce: Of course.
Anita: Then you must know kung fu.
Bruce: Yes, I stepped in some yesterday.

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Connections

References Saturday Night Fever (1977)

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Soundtracks

I Imagine You
Lyrics by Gary Tigerman

User Reviews

Old gags, tired gags: but good gags.

To answer the implied question about Australians in an earlier comment, I saw the film for what it was: a spoof comedy. I thoroughly enjoyed it as such. I didn't look for errors of continuity or consistency; that seemed rather pointless; or for any hidden meanings. I simply took the gags at face value and enjoyed them.

I would not draw any conclusions about "real" Asians from this movie; any more than you would say draw conclusions about any other nationalities from comedy movies. I guess that Woody Allen comedies would be a perfect example of how that would not work.

As for the best line, in my opinion it is:

"...and then I got run over by a Toyota. Oh, what a feeling".