"THE LOVE GURU"
Movie Review
by Chris Alexis
| ****1/2 (out of 5 stars) STARRING Mike Myers as GURU PITKA Jessica Alba as JANE BULLARD Romany Malco as DARREN ROANOKE Justin Timberlake as JACQUES GRANDE Rated PG-13 Opens June 20, 2008 Studio: Paramount Directed by: Marco Schnabel Back to Movie Review Home |
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I’ve been a Mike Myers fan ever since the “Wayne’s World” movies in the ‘90s. Personally, I think he’s hilarious in everything he’s done from “So I Married an Axe Murderer” to all the “Austin Powers” movies.
And “The Love Guru” is no different. I laughed throughout the entire thing.
This film tells the story of the Guru Pitka, who longs to be the number guru in the world but is kept in second place by Deepak Chopra.
Pitka sees his chance for glory after Jane Bullard, owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team, hires him to mend the marital rift between superstar Darren Roanoke and his wife. Roanoke’s personal troubles have robbed him of his playing abilities and the team needs him more than ever to win the Stanley Cup Finals.
The movie is admittedly full of low-brow humor that you’d expect 13-year-olds to love, but I loved it too. All of the gross-outs jokes were funny, Myers’ timing was spot-on and the movie kept pushing the envelope and surprising me with what they were willing to do for a laugh – right down to two elephants mating in the middle of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup.
It’s nice to see Myers do a fresh character. For a while, I thought he might produce endless sequels to “Shrek” and “Austin Powers.” And while I’m a fan of both series, it’s nice to see something new.
The supporting cast does a bang-up job here. Verne Troyer plays the team’s grumpy coach and his effort to stall a game is hilarious – it had me in tears. And his line during an outtake during the credits is hilarious.
Jessica Alba is admittedly little more than eye candy in the movie, but that’s fine with me. I enjoy watching her on-screen anytime.
Justin Timberlake has proven he’s got quite the sense of humor and plays with his character’s bad accent and devotion to Celine Dion with apology.
I hope this movie does well – I enjoyed it way too much. And although I enjoy Myers playing a fresh character, I would have no problem if this move spawned a “Love Guru 2.”
