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</script></div>{/googleAds}There is no denying Mike Myers is a gifted comedian, and when the man hits one out of the park he really hits one outta the park. He also unfortunately has an equally spectacular ability to disappoint, and his latest effort ‘The Love Guru' falls dangerous close to the latter end of this scale...

Telling the story of Guru Pitka second only to Deepak Chopra in the art of guidance a whimsical teacher of the wisdoms of life, Myers' latest misadventure has his new invention being retained by the unpopular owner (Jessica Alba) of a failing ice hockey team to reunite its star player (Romany Malco) with his estranged wife and get him back on form to finally take the team to the finals.

The Love GuruPerhaps in premise alone, the film was not destined to strike a chord with Myers' core audience. All his usual bag of tricks are present. In fact it's not unfair to say the bulk of the film's humor is merely thinly veiled recreations of his previous attempts, and have finally worn out their welcome. The cohesion of Myers' traditional gross out elements, combining with an attempt to present a rather sweet, endearing character never quite gel this time. The story just isn't that interesting. And the eventual conclusion is formulaic and unsatisfying. Myers' propensity to surprise is never present in this work.

Debut director Marco Schnabel shows a panache in quite a few different styles, as he shifts from traditional coverage to Bollywood musical riffing to special effect ladened shots. This was not an easy film to shoot, and it presents excellently.

The performers do their best to keep up with Myers but the characters, while colorful and inventive, never elicit anything more than an amused smirk. Jessica Alba, who always seems to cop the most critical flak (unfairly in this reviewer's opinion) isn't going to win anyone over with this performance her character is bitter, one-dimensional, and unbelievable. Romany Malco is another wasted performer, showing none of the comedic verve he did in ‘The 40 Yr-Old Virgin'. But it is Justin Timberlake who has impressed thus far with his filmic endeavours that really falls short, playing a French-Canadian ice hockey player with a Johnson the length of a fat man's belt. He gives it his all, but - like most of the characters in this film - there's very little to chew on.

There really is only one criteria needed to judge if a comedic film is the one for you: are you laughing? Story, acting, writing, direction, sound, bla-bla all these things are subjective. But a comedy, like a horror, is intended to bring out a visceral reaction, and if it doesn't then it's not one to vote for. I love watching Mike Myers. I think he is one of the more inventive comedians out there, but ‘The Love Guru' doesn't get my vote. It's a tired, repetitious (at least in terms of Myers' comedic inventiveness), barely amusing little tale that won't evoke much of anything, not the least being a good hearty laugh.


Component Grades
Movie
DVD
2 stars
3 Stars
DVD Experience
1 Star

DVD

DVD Details:

Screen Formats: 1.85:1

Subtitles: English SDH, Portuguese, Spanish, English

Language and Sound: Closed Captioned; English: Dolby True HD; Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1; French: Dolby Digital 5.1

Other Features: Color; interactive menus; scene access; deleted scenes; bloopers; outtakes; additional featurettes.

* Featurettes
o Mike Myers and The Love Guru - An Inside Look
o One Helluva Elephant
o Hockey Training for Actors
o Back in the Booth with Trent and Jay
* Deleted Scenes - 11 scenes that didn't make the final cut, including an alternate ending
* Gag Reel - 3 1/2 minutes of bloopers
o Outtakes and More - 10 minutes of alternate takes and physical comedy
* Previews - Original theatrical trailer for The Love Guru
* Digital Copy of movie: digital copy of the movie that comes on a separate disc

Number of Discs: 2 with Keepcase Packaging

{pgomakase}