The Love Guru

Starring: Mike Myers, Jessica Alba, Romany Marco, Justin Timberlake, Meagan Good, Verne Troyer, Ben Kingsley, Stephen Colbert, Jim Gaffigan, Jessica Simpson (cameo), Kayne West (cameo), Val Kilmer (uncredited)
Directed by: Marco Schnabel
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy
2008

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: The #2 guru in the world, Guru Pitka (Mike Myers) has an opportunity to increase his fame if he can heal the relationship between a hockey player (Romany Marco) and his wife (Meagan Good) in time for the Toronto Maple Leafs to win the Stanley Cup.

Review:

Tim: It is getting harder and harder to remember when Mike Myers was actually really, really funny. He gives us another comedy here, with a legitimately impressive new character in Guru Pitka. Myers is a master at transforming himself into ridiculous yet believable characters, and he does pull it off again here.

To be fair, I actually laughed at this movie quite a bit. However, the vast majority of the movie's laughs are quite cheap. This is the kind of humor that makes you laugh, but makes you feel bad for doing so. Instead of relying on original humor, we get recycled lines like- "I used to have a hat just like that... until my mom got a job!" I remember laughing at that in the early 90's. Now, that line made me laugh here, but I felt cheap about. That is the majority of this movie. However, there are also several scenes that evoke not laughs but groans of misery. Myers should know that flatulence and things like elephant sex don't get laughs unless done absolutely brilliantly. They are both awful moments in this movie.

Myers actually is quite enjoyable as Pitka. He is a stupid, ridiculous character, but Myers puts so much energy into the role that it is hard to hate him. Jessica Alba brings her looks and her utter lack of acting ability to her role. I never believed Alba and Myers as possible love interests, not even for a moment. Justin Timberlake- surprise of all surprises- is actually really, really funny as a French goalie. I laughed quite a bit at him, as he is completely over-the-top. I liked that Myers got Verne Troyer some more work, which is actually quite a bit different from his Mini-Me character. He accounted for some good laughs throughout the film. The Ben Kingsley casting was awful because of how pitiful he looked (he's responsible for the flatulence "gag"). It is sad what such a great actor has resorted to. I also liked Meagan Good and Romany Marco in their roles.

Myers seems to take the shotgun approach to comedy here. He throws up so many jokes throughout the film that some are bound to stick. However, these aren't enough to make up for some serious, serious misfires. As I've mentioned previously, I might have laughed throughout this movie, but I didn't feel good about it. Very, very few of the jokes here earn the laughter. It is mostly just surface work. If you're looking for a quick and mindless laugh, The Love Guru might be able to provide that. However, the humor is fleeting, and this movie never really gets off the ground.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Austin Powers trilogy, So I Married an Axe Murderer, Shrek trilogy