The Austin Powers films were, despite their level of comedic immaturity, relatively funny films. They're not classics by any means (in my personal opinion), but they were an entertaining enough distraction throughout their running time. The Love Guru is a film that is nearly devoid of any sort of humour. It aspires to do nothing but present a story in a similar vein as the Austin Powers films, yet presents nothing new, and completely removes any sort of charm that was present in that series of films.
The Love Guru finds the Guru Pitka (Mike Myers), invited to the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team, in order to help resolve the relationship troubles of the teams star player. This has resulted in a major decline in his performance, as the team goes into the playoff finals.
I will point out the films two minor successes, before I continue to explain the film's numerous flaws. First, the film has a small amount of genuine significance as it displays some aspects of Canadian culture that generally aren't showcased in Hollywood productions: The inclusion of the Toronto Maple Leafs as one of the film's focal points, and the inclusion of “Hockey Night in Canada” as seen on the Canadian network, CBC. This will mean nothing to anyone aside from us Canadians, but it is certainly interesting to see one of the most recognizable Canadian television programs portrayed in a distinctly Hollywood film.
The only other bright spot in a film that could rightly be compared to a cinematic ‘sea of shit' is Justin Timberlake. Timberlake provides nearly all of the films genuine laughs. His appearance alone is enough to make one giggle, with his 70's porn-stache and big, curly hair. His lines are delivered with a terrible French-Canadian accent, which surprisingly made me enjoy his parts that much more. Perhaps it was because I enjoyed the unintentional humour of his delivery more than the endless genuine attempts at humour throughout the film, that continually missed their marks. Timberlake made me laugh, and as in my review for Alpha Dog, he is nearly the only reason this film has any positive merit.
Now for the bad… and believe me, I could go on and on about what's wrong with The Love Guru. Let me simplify by saying: For the first time in a long while, I left a movie actually wanting my money back. I understood quite well when I went in, that I was in for a bad movie. One that I probably wouldn't enjoy very much, but at the very least I expected my pre-formed opinion to leave me feeling indifferent to the whole thing, as I understood it wasn't going to be good in any sense of the word. However, even with these lowered expectations, I severely overestimated the comedic effects of The Love Guru.
I realized shortly into the film, that I could have written this script. You could have written this script… Damn near anyone could have written this script. Mike Meyers is 45 years old at the time of The Love Guru's release. Yet the humour comprised in the film is very similar to the kinds of jokes we told in elementary school, when we were 8 years old. I, personally, outgrew this type of humour long ago, and as such, I don't find it funny. I would venture a guess that you won't either. The protagonist has a mind that operates not unlike a small child, finding humour in the most immature things. The movie plays out as a series of jokes that few of us who have graduated the sixth grade would find funny. The Love Guru is an infantile attempt at humour, and I strongly suggest you don't waste your time.
