The Love Guru movie reviews
Movie Type:Comedy
MPAA Rating:PG-13 for crude and sexual content throughout, language, some comic violence and drug references.
Directed By: Marco Schnabel
Cast: Mike Myers, Jessica Alba, Romany Malco, Verne Troyer, Justin Timberlake, Ben Kingsley, Meagan Good
Released: June 20th, 2008 (wide)
U.S. Box Office: TBA
It’s likely that the younger generation of moviegoers knows Mike Myers primarily as the voice of Shrek. It has been five years since “The Cat in the Hat,” his last live-action movie, and six since the third “Austin Powers” picture, so a bit of reintroduction may be in order. Kids who wonder just who this guy is — and grownups with a merely casual rather than morbidly obsessive interest in pop-culture ephemera — will need some remedial instruction.
“The Love Guru”, starring Mike Myers’s prosthetic nose, Justin Timberlake’s washboard abs, and Jessica Alba’s breasts, opens Friday. And the critics have been unanimous: this movie sucks! The Love Guru reviews scored an almost inconceivably low 9 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
As the movie opens we learn that the Guru Pitka (Myers) is an American who was raised in India, for some unexplained reason, where he studied under Guru Tugginmypudha (Ben Kingsley); don’t worry, there is plenty more name play throughout. During his studies he has to compete with Deepak Chopra (appearing as himself), always coming up second best.
Those suckered into seeing this relentless exercise in juvenilia, meanwhile, may well recoil from sports comedies, Bollywood musicals, self-help spiritualists, puns and even characters with beards for the foreseeable future.
Yet the worst of Myers is related to the best of Myers: He’s a high-wire act. In any given minute of “The Love Guru,” he risks embarrassment and humiliation. The least self-protective comic imaginable, he puts it all out there with every broad smile, every role of the eyes and every goofy joke. There’s no net. He falls, he gets up and throws out more jokes, more smiles, more physical effort.
Justin Timberlake gives an energized performance as the well-endowed nemesis of Roanoke, but he is the only bright spot in the supporting cast. Alba, Malco, Troyer, and the horribly miscast Ben Kingsley are simply not funny and leave Myers longing for Mindy Sterling, Seth Green, or himself in another character.
The Cast
Mike Myers hams it up as Guru Pitka, his first new character since Austin Powers. But where Austin Powers grew on audiences over the course of the film franchise, Guru Pitka’s not likely to grow on anyone over the age of 12 over the course of one movie. Pitka’s like that obnoxiously weird uncle who does inappropriate things in front of company. By the end of 88 minutes, I was ready to say goodbye and good riddance to Pitka forever.
Synopsis:
Love, hockey, and Indian spirituality come together in this film that marks Mike Myers’s return to live-action comedy. THE LOVE GURU costars Jessica Alba, Justin Timberlake, and Ben Kingsley. Love, hockey, and Indian spirituality come together in this film that marks Mike Myers’s return to live-action comedy. THE LOVE GURU costars Jessica Alba, Justin Timberlake, and Ben Kingsley.
