‘The Love Guru’
June 27, 2008
Seeking comedic enlightenment? Look elsewhere
By now you know that Mike Myers’ new comedy The Love Guru is one of the worst-reviewed films of the year, that it performed poorly at the box office, and that some Hindu groups are protesting the way Hindus and their beliefs are lampooned in the movie.
Despite knowing this, I wanted to like The Love Guru. I’ve always been a big Mike Myers fan. I grew up loving his sketches on Saturday Night Live, “Wayne’s World” could have been my autobiography and I still think the first Austin Powers is one of the funniest things committed to celluloid. I also may be one of only few who thought So I Married an Axe Murderer was pure comedic genius.
But I have to admit that, to borrow the film’s own imagery, The Love Guru is a big pile of elephant poop. Aside from Stephen Colbert’s funny turn as a drugged-out sportscaster, I laughed exactly three times during the movie.
Which isn’t to say that you won’t find the movie to be funny if you think any of the following is hilarious: two elephants fornicating, an elephant taking a dump, Jessica Alba looking repeatedly at Myers with bedroom eyes, midget jokes, getting hit in the face with a urine-soaked mop, or the repeated use of the words “Mariska Hargitay.”
The plot, such as it is, focuses on Guru Pitka (Myers), the second best self-help guru behind Deepak Chopra. He longs to be number one, and his chance arrives if he can get a hockey player (Romany Malco) back together with his wife (Meagan Good) who has left him for a rival player (Justin Timberlake). If successful, he will earn a spot on Oprah’s coveted couch and win the love of the team’s beautiful owner (Alba).
All the actors seem willing to make a fool of themselves to get a laugh, but the problem is they look foolish without the laughs being present. Alba, Timberlake, even the great Sir Ben Kingsley spoofing his Gandhi image, are awkward, like under-rehearsed teens in a bad high school play.
Part of the blame should be laid on first-time director Marco Schnabel who has about as much comedic timing as your alarm clock, but the real blame must fall on Myers who co-wrote the script, created the character and had creative control over the project. This might be proof of Myers entering the Charlie Chaplin/A King in New York phase of his career — a once great comic with a big ego who has no clue he has lost touch with the cultural zeitgeist.
And what of the charges the film is offensive to Hindus and Indians?
On the one hand, the character that comes off the best is Pitka’s right-hand man, Rajneesh (played by Manu Narayan). Though essentially playing the stereotypical servant-of-color role to the leading Caucasian man, Narayan has a charismatic dignity that allows him to rise above the material, something even the more experienced Kingsley isn’t able to do.
If you’re a devout Hindu, you’re likely to find many of the jokes to be on the offensive side. But everyone in this film is stupid and not in the “smart stupid” style of comedy that Myers once did so well. Any self-respecting moviegoer should be offended — but by the whole film.
Philip W. Chung’s column Reel Stories appears every other week in AsianWeek.
Comments
One Response to “‘The Love Guru’”
Got something to say?
Phil:
This is truly discouraging.
Bad enough Sally Fields has to resort to selling asnake oils, but, I, for one, draw the line in this sandbox, raht-cheer and raht-now, to wit:
The day Sir Ben Kingsley mocks himself in a Mike Myers movie is the day I resign my press pass as in let them not press-pass against either beauty OR truth.
We all have to “eat,” but I would hope not our own merde.
Anime-ation is sad enough, but “virtual” UNreality?
Frank
P.S.: Check Earl Ofari’s putdown of Ralph Nader in today’s New America Media, AND the companion piece on the fact that Obama is an “anti-Iraq War” protagonist and not “antiwar” at all.
That and all that jazz about his Wall Street connections is enouigh to turn one off, but, wait, there’s nothing better on the Nov. 4 horizon, and, maybe, just maybe, the Obamanator may prove to walk the talk of us “pacifists” and our fellow laboring paisanos, of whatever race, creed, OR color, assuming our blood vessels continue to deliver the red as well as the white.
And, note too, the continuing “headlines” herein, which bespeak a “new” “world” a-borning on this “Pacific Rim” of fiery craters and clashing tectonic plates.