Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here. Not to borrow the title of another of this summer’s films, but I want to believe that THE LOVE GURU is funny. I do. I am a Mike Myers fan. Unabashedly. I think he’s done way too little original work in recent years, but I’m still a fan. I like the AUSTIN POWERS series without apology. I think the first WAYNE’S WORLD was great fun. I want to believe that Mike’s going to do it again. I just didn’t love that trailer. Still... it’s a trailer. And context can be everything for some comics. So I reserve judgment. For now, let’s see what our first reviewer has to say. This guy’s sent a few things in for us before, and I hope he’s going to be able to send in another review soon. For now, here’s his take:
I had the opportunity to catch an early screening of Mike Myers’ upcoming comedy “THE LOVE GURU” in Marina Del Ray last week. There were some producers and other industry people in the crowd, but I did not catch a glimpse of Myers. Anyways, onto my review. “The Love Guru” is one stupid comedy, funny at times, but very stupid. The film will do well at the box-office. It will be a PG-13 comedy that can bring in the young crowds, which films like “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Semi-Pro” were not able to do. Just because it will draw a crowd, doesn’t mean it was necessarily a great comedy. In comparison to his Austin Powers character, this is something completely new that Myers has come up with. Myers plays his holiness, the Guru Pitka. His profession is one of an Indian monk who is able to fix and mend all sorts of relationships. However, he is only the number two guru in the world, behind Deepak Chopra. Chopra was a character who was on Oprah, hence his success has since gone through the roof. Pitka gets a message from the Toronto Maple Leafs, asking for his assistance as their best player, Darren Roanoke has separated from his girlfriend Prudence and his hockey game is suffering greatly because of it. The Leafs want Pitka to come in and save Roanoke’s love-life in time for him to get his shit together and have a chance at winning the Stanley Cup. If Pitka can fix Roanoke and Prudence’s relationship, then he will finally got the opportunity to be on Oprah. Stereotypes and recycled jokes will follow. Myers was good, as usual. This character was very funny, very offensive at times, and said hello to everyone by acknowledging them in the traditional Hindu greeting of “Mariska Hargitay.” Pitka was forced to wear a chastity belt at a young age, so several boner jokes are present throughout the film, but you get the idea after the first time. Jessica Alba plays Jane Bullard the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Her performance was very mediocre, as has been her last hundred performances (Awake, the Eye…etc). Verne Troyer returns as Coach Cherkov, the height challenged coach of the Maple Leafs. Cherkov and Pitka get into a few verbal fights, straight out of an Austin Powers vs. Mini Me script. Finally, I can’t leave out the dreadful performance of Justin Timberlake. Let me say that I went into this wanting to laugh at his character, but Timberlake has no comedic timing whatsoever and he is simply not an actor. The only redeeming thing about his performance was his character’s name Jacques “Le Coq” Grande and yes his penis in the film is huge, which is why he is able to steal Prudence away from Roanoke. Overall the film had some very funny moments and some great Powers-inspired music and dance sequences. As a hockey fan, it is great to see the sport back in popular media, but who would honestly believe an LA Kings vs. Toronto Maple Leafs Stanley cup finals? When you go see a movie like this, you pretty much know what you are getting into. But if you were really unimpressed by the trailer as I was, do not fear. The movie was much funnier than the trailer made it out to be. Also, keep an eye out for a fantastic Mike Myers & Kanye West cameo. If you use this, address me as Dr. Venkman
Okay. Fair enough. Here’s another guy who apparently saw it at the same time in the same place. Let’s see if he concurs:
Hey Harry, Saw a screening of "The Love Guru" last night in lovely Marina Del Rey and thought I would share my thoughts with my fellow geeks. First off, judging by the audience reaction you would think this is going to be a smash hit and a new franchise for Mike Myers but the only word of caution is we all know the false positive you can get from a free screening (especially of a free screening to a potential summer blockbuster). But it will be very interesting to see the public reaction to the film since it is the brand of Myers comedy that may seem a bit out of vogue with the hallmark of the Apatow character-comedy era. Roger Ebert had a great quote in his review of "Stripes" - Comedy is one of the hardest film genres to work in. Nobody knows all its secrets, not even Woody Allen and Mel Brooks." And just like those two comedy gods (and more currently Apatow) have their own secrets figured out, so too does Myers which is obviously heavily influenced by Peter Sellers as well as Monty Python. All the Myers trademarks are on display in "The Love Guru" - the silly names, ridiculous puns, bizarre non-sequiters, out of nowhere musical numbers and most importantly a bizarre character that Myers completely disappears into. In this case, the character is Guru Pytka - an American who was raised and trained India by the mystical Guru Tugginmypudha (Ben Kingsley, in a role that's a nice bookend to Mohandus Ghandi). Now grown, he is the #2 Guru in world behind Deepak Chopra. Pytka is summoned to Toronto by Maple Leafs owner Jane Bullard (Jessica Alba) to help lovelorn star forward Darren Roanoke (Romany Malco, playing "the Tiger Woods of hockey.") who has been in a slump since his wife left him for L.A. Kings goalie Jacques "Le Coq" Grande (Justin Timberlake playing his version of Dirk Diggler). If Pytka can help the Leafs beat the Kings to win the Stanley Cup Finals he will get two million dollars, the love of Bullard and most importantly that elusive guest shot on "Oprah." That's it. That's the plot. The rest is a chance for Myers to crack us up with ball jokes, funny faces, double entendres and everything else that we loved in the "Austin Powers" and "Wayne's World" films. You really have to hand it to Myers for creating a wholly new character instead of playing "Austin Powers" again (and trust me - with a few tweaks this could have easily been "Austin Powers 4"). As I watched this I realized that since the death of Peter Sellers and his last (and sadly one of his least creations) "Dr. Fu Manchu" there really hasn't been anyone who has been capable to pick up that huge baton until Myers. Pytka is totally someone that Sellers would have created in one of his films. This is a character that Myers hones for a couple of years before finally committing him to film and it absolutely shows. There are small character details that you just can't get out of three weeks of rehearsal. I would also like to mention the running time - 85 minutes. I guarantee there is an hour's worth of footage on the cutting room floor but this movie sticks to the rule that a comedy should not wear out its welcome. This was a refreshing change from some recent comedies which have pushed the two hour mark. In closing this is a silly, goofy hilarious movie that made me smile. I hope there is still room for ridiculous Mike Myers comedy at the multiplex this summer before we all smoke some "Pineapple Express" get some new "Step Brothers" and hear the "Tropic Thunder." If you use this call me Guru Penismightier
