Movie Review: The Love Guru

Movies Reviews

By Anee Brodie Jun 23, 2008, 9:29 GMT

You CAN laugh at a film you think is abominable. And that’s what I did. Mike Myers is back with a mashup of Indian guru, the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team and body fluids that will test the patience of Hindus and Canadians and everyone else.What with Ben Kingsley’s permanently cross-eyed Tugginmypuddah, Verne Troyer’s sad beat downs and Myers unflappably blind self-confidence, there’s much to watch. But there’s little to respect. I’m certain that Mike Myers is not here for our respect. He wants something far harder to secure – our laughs. And while he gets a fair number, his career as a leading light in the comedy world is definitely in the dumpster after the public gets a load of The Love Guru. The laughs did come for a while but the ‘jokes’ got progressively worse and dumber and soon it was clear Myers had run out of gas. But he kept going. Editing staff, where were you?The thing doesn’t hold together, make sense or engage us in any way, shape or form. Except for a couple of belly laughs early on, the whole mess is forgotten within seconds of the end credits. There’s just that lingering taste of failure.
The Love Guru is simply that bad.Myers’ Guru Pitka is the least funny, funny movie character that ever existed. His humour is laboured and misshapen and that’s a heartbreaker; I take it especially for Hindus who don’t like the way Myers portrays them and for Canadians, a good and stouthearted people reduced to awful accents and Céline Dion.One might be forgiven for thinking that Myers joke isn’t what is on the screen but that he got us into our seats to sledgehammer us in the first place. You don’t take adoring fans of twenty years and screw ‘em and then charge ‘em for it.The most fervent Wayne’s World and Austin Powers’s fans will feel betrayed, ashamed and embarrassed for the once unstoppable comic who is now almost entirely reliant on bodily functions, schoolyard pranks and a few facial expressions.There almost a sense that he is daring us to laugh at gibberish.Where is the story? The so-called plot is as interesting and deep as cellophane. It’s merely a flimsy frame for Myers’ picayune meanderings.
Where is the discipline that’s crucial to comedy? And what about the direction? Where was the director? Why didn’t he reign in the star when it became clear Myers was running off the rails? Schnabel was apparently a ‘visual consultant’ on one of Myers earlier films so perhaps his skill isn’t direction as much as being agreeable and laughing a lot.Glad to see cameos by Mariska Hargitay, Deepak Chopra, Val Kilmer, Jessica Simpson and a few other unfortunates. They looked as though they were enjoying themselves even as we suffered.The best part of the film was Justin Timberlake’s game-for-anything, against type portrayal of a hockey player but he wasn’t around long enough. (A wee joke for those of you who have seen the film)Is Mike Myers living in the woods? Or under his own spell? WTF?He should be banned from movie making for at least five years if not forever. Or throw him into movie prison to serve three consecutive life sentences. I didn’t love The Love Guru.Opens: June 20
Runtime: 90 minutes
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content throughout, language, some comic violence and drug references
Country: US
Language: English

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DavidJun 23rd, 2008 - 21:22:22

Yep, worst movie I've seen in a while. No laughs. Kinda sad.

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