12:33pm Thursday 31st July 2008
Comedy/Romance. Mike Myers, Jessica Alba, Justin Timberlake, Romany Malco, Meagan Good, Verne Troyer, Sir Ben Kingsley. Director: Marco Schnabel.
WHEN The Love Guru opened in America earlier this summer, Hindu leaders were not amused by Mike Myers's mockery of their spiritual leaders, calling for a boycott of the film.
In truth, no one will be amused by this crass and humourless tale of self-empowerment, which includes Bollywood-style performances of Nine To Five, More Than Words and The Joker.
Marco Schnabel's film is plain dull, relying on slapstick and innuendo in an attempt to get laughs. A musical nod to Wayne's World raises a smile, as does the running joke about an actress from TV drama Law & Order, but on the whole, the script blunders from one pitiful punchline to the next.
Raised in an ashram since he was a child, Guru Pitka (Myers) leaves Guru Tugginmypuddha (Kingsley) to establish himself as an expert in self-help and spirituality in his birth home of America.
To raise his profile, Pitka agrees to help Darren Roanoke (Malco), star hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs, to heal a rift with his estranged wife Prudence (Good).
Alas, she already has a new lover: Darren's sworn rival Jacques Grande (Timberlake). Roanoke's form suffers, distressing Maple Leafs owner Jane Bullard (Alba) and diminutive coach Cherkov (Troyer).
So Pitka employs his famed D.R.A.M.A. teaching system (Distraction, Regression, Adjustment, Maturity, Action).
There's the unmistakable whiff of Austin Powers about the whole sorry enterprise, as Myers gurns at the camera.
The last straw comes when the heroine giggles deliriously, "I haven't laughed like this for so hard". Someone book her a padded cell.
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