I have been an ardent fan of Mike Myers movies, and appreciative of Myers himself. However, my early anticipation of “The Love Guru” died a quick death in seeing the trailer. It not only didn’t seem good, it seemed bad. I mean really bad. It looked like the sort of movie that kills a good man’s career.
I may be right.
The reviews of “The Love Guru” have been BAD! Very, very bad! Consider this quote from A. O Scott’s review in today’s New York Times:
To say that the movie is not funny is merely to affirm the obvious. The word “unfunny” surely applies to Mr. Myers’s obnoxious attempts to find mirth in physical and cultural differences but does not quite capture the strenuous unpleasantness of his performance. No, “The Love Guru” is downright antifunny, an experience that makes you wonder if you will ever laugh again.
Ouch! But this isn’t an example of the worst, but relatively reflective of the overall tenor of the reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes (which has a new ironic edge given the salmonella scare in the US), 82 of 98 reviews tallied called the movie rotten. Even Myers’ hometown paper, The Toronto Star, was moderate in its support of the film, which is set in the T-dot (a rare time that Toronto plays Toronto in a movie). The deck to Peter Howell’s review says: “Heavy on crude gags, light on plot, there’s no centre ice here. You’ll either love Myers’ Guru or send it to the penalty box.”
Mike Myers may not just get a five-minute major, but a league suspension for this film.
