Posts Tagged ‘The Love Guru’
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I hate to give you guys extra homework on a Wednesday, but you might get a little more enjoyment out of today’s comic if you read this one first.
It’s kind of funny how these things loop around. I have to chuckle a little bit because of how near prescient that comic from 2003 actually was. I tossed out 2007 from nowhere when I suggested Mike Myers self-plagiarism would cause his head to collapse. Who would have guessed that after the critical failure that was The Cat in the Hat he would go into exile away from movie screens for the next five years?
I like Myers, but you would have to be a poor student of comedy not to notice that he really only has four or five moves. Fortunately for him, he has an uncanny ability to insert catch phrases into the lexicon and that’s what gives his movies legs. Even one or two word catch phrases. Who could imagine that “…Not!” could become a catch phrase? Well, maybe Borat could. But no one else. Innocuous phrases like “Schwing” or “Yeah, baby” reflect that it’s not just the words themselves, but the way Myers says them that make them lodge in our brain. I give him a lot of credit for that.
But when I saw the trailer for The Love Guru, I rolled my eyes in disgust.
Undoubtedly, Myers creation of The Guru Pitka is an original one. Something we really haven’t seen in a movie before. But everything that surround him, we have. He bends his legs over his head like the Austin Powers villain Goldmember, he rides around on a motorized pillow reminiscent of Dr. Evil and his various troublesome chairs, he unleashes a stream of Freudian slips when he encounters Verne Troyer (“How do you do? Shrimp?” “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your gnome… name!” “You are a midget”) similar to Austin Powers meeting Fred Savage’s Number Three character in Goldmember. You know – the one with the mole? (“Moley, moley, moley!”) There is an Austin Powers-esque dance number and The Guru Pitka has unfortunate body hair like Powers as well – there’s another trailer showing him showering with long nipple hair that comes to a point like his beard.
That said, I do give him credit for the line he delivers when confronted by the cowboy in the bar. “Nice hat. I had a hat like that once. Then my Mom got a job!” That’s a good one.
It may seem nit-picky to point out these comparisons between The Love Guru and the Austin Powers movie, but it’s not a good sign when you’re watching a trailer and you keep saying to yourself “I think I’ve seen that joke in a movie before.” over and over and over again. I was initially excited for The Love Guru. The first trailer diminished that. Bad sign.
I was trying to think of a reason why I’m tagging Myers for self-plagiarism in this way. Certainly there are many other comedians who perform the same character or hit the same emotional notes from picture to picture. Fellow Saturday Night Live alum Adam Sandler, for example, could be considered on of them.
But for me it all came into focus after Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. There are jokes in that movie that could be considered outright theft from Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery if it wasn’t Myers who wrote both movies. It’s one thing to have a running gag in a series of films. It develops a sense of continuity. It’s a completely different thing to tell the exact same joke twice.
Entertainment Weekly had a very interesting article about Myers that was posted on Monday. It’s a little on the long side, but I suggest you read it. The article delves into Myers exacting and demanding creative process and tackles his reputation as someone who is difficult to work with.
The article actually made me appreciate Myers again because – despite his negative reputation – it’s clear that he cares very deeply for his work and I admire anyone with that kind of discipline. Most people who are perfectionists in this way aren’t well-liked. But their contribution to the culture at large is usually profound. Myers takes being stupid very seriously. Love him or hate him, you can’t deny what his movies do for people. Critical observations aside, myself included. Even when I know Myers is trying to float the same joke twice, I laugh – because there is conviction behind it.
That said, did anyone see Myers on Late Night with David Letterman on Monday. Both Cami and I thought that he was struggling exceptionally hard to put on a front that was the antithesis to what the EW article portrayed him to be. Here are the two parts of his interview in cased you missed it.
I’ll probably end up seeing The Love Guru at some point this weekend. Cami is a long-in-the-tooth Myers fan and is extremely motivated to see it – despite what I think is worthy competition from Steve Carell and Get Smart.
We’ll go to the movie and I’ll laugh before immediately quoting lines from the movie – all the while kind of hating myself for it while I do. But at the same time I’ll be eagerly anticipating the DVD release of the film because that’s exactly the kind of hold Mike Myers has over my household and the culture at large.
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When trailers and commercials for Mike Myers first on screen comedy outing in 5 years, critical reaction in our household was one of puzzlement. My wife and I are two of the biggest Mike Myers fans you’ll find. But what’s up with all of the gags lifted out of the three previous Austin Powers movie? And your tacitly making fun of Hinduism? Really? Is that wise? Our stink meters went off.
Turns out we were right. After calls for boycott from leading Hindu groups and a dismal total domestic gross of $32 million, The Love Guru turned out to be the greatest misstep of Mike Myers’ career.
I didn’t see the movie in theaters, but I reserved judgment completely until the film came out on DVD. Deep down I was hoping that there was at least something redeemable about the film. There’s a few things to like about The Love Guru, but a lot more things to hate.
If you’re unfamiliar with the plot, Myers plays an American stranded in an Indian orphanage after his parents are killed during missionary work (whatever) and seeks knowledge from Guru Tugginmypudha (played by Ben Kingsley – who apparently has lost the ability to say “no” to anything). Myers takes his spiritual guidance and transforms it into a multi-million dollar self-help empire. But he is dissatisfied because he is still number two compared to Deepak Chopra.
As the Guru Pitka, Myers is difficult to like. He speaks in platitudes hidden inside verbal riddles (“Intimacy: Or ‘Into Me, I see.” “What is the Bible except ‘B.asic I.nstructions B.efore L.eaving E.arth?”) Anyone who gets suckered into this kind of spiritual guidance needs all the self-help they can get.
Compounding the problem. Guru Pitka does not demonstrate any of the behaviors of a supposed Holy Man. When opportunity knocks in the form of Jessica Alba (as the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs) seeking the Guru’s guidance to reunite their star player with his estranged wife, the Guru is not motivated by helping the player. He is motivated by the $2 million he’s being paid and the opportunity to appear on Oprah should he be successful.
Of course there is a third act revelation where the Guru learns the errors of his ways, amends the shortcuts he took toward bringing the couple back together and frees himself from feeling inferior to Deepak Chopra, but it all comes too late. Who wants to spend time with this selfish ass for two hours?
That’s another thing: SEVERAL times in this movie other characters refer to Pitka disparagingly – calling him an ass or a moron – and it’s hard not to disagree. In addition to his spiritual blather, Myers infuses the Guru with an arsenal of playground antics and taunts meant to “regress” uptight squares but are really only effective for bridging the gap with the audience who hazily remember “Oh, yeah. I remember ‘Milk, milk, lemonade – around the corner fudge is made’.”
What makes matters worse is that the only one laughing at any of Pitka’s jokes is Pitka himself. Hooting and sniggering like an exiled villain from the 1960’s Batman TV show, Pitka’s childlike glee isn’t endearing. It’s annoying.
For as grating as the character is, Myers at least plays him enthusiastically. I think Myers still has value as a comedic voice. His problem in this case was convincing himself that audiences would align themselves with his clear preoccupation for Eastern spirituality. But, hey… when you can make a movie about a slacker filming a local access cable show in his basement and a time-displaced Lothario super spy from the ’60s and have them be huge hits, why wouldn’t you think anything was possible?
As far as the rest of the cast goes, they perform amiably. That is, at least as well as they would have in any other comedy of this nature. Justin Timberlake shows up as a French Canadian goalie and the main antagonist. I’m guessing someone told him to approach the role like Pepe Le Pew, because that’s what he sounds like.
Verne Troyer is on hand as a foul-mouthed coach and actually gets to spit lines this time. Beyond that, it’s a cavalcade of cameos from the likes of Jessica Simpson, The Daily Show’s John Oliver, Val Kimer, Mariska Hargitay, Stephen Colbert and Jim Gaffigan.
Personally, I think it’s a shame that Romany Malco as hockey superstar Darren Roanoke can’t find better material to plug into. I’ve enjoyed him in nearly every movie he’s been in and The Love Guru was poised to break him into a wider audience. This is, if the movie were able to draw an audience.
In terms of extra features, the DVD doesn’t skim. But most of them are forgettable. It wasn’t particularly interesting to sit through “One Hellava Elephant,” which spends too much time with the effects supervisor responsible for creating the one-quarter top reproduction of the elephant Mike Myers rides in the film. Nor was it particularly interesting to watch “Hockey Training For Actors,” which details the process in which Malco and Timberlake prepared for their scenes on the ice. The blooper reel is a fair diversion and the deleted scenes and outtakes (while uneven in quality) are sometimes funnier than what was left in!
The best featurette on the DVD is “Back In The Booth With Trent and Jay.” Trent and Jay being the color commentators for the hockey game sequences as played by Jim Gaffigan and Stephen Colbert. The featurette collects their improvisations. Colbert owns the booth with his performance as the drug addicted and relapsing Jay Kell, but Gaffigan gives it right back as the straight man delivering several sharp lines of his own. Would it be too much to ask for a movie starring these two?
Overall The Love Guru lives up to it’s unfortunate reputation. I take no joy in stating that, but it is what it is. Hardcore Mike Myers fans might find a few things to enjoy here. But the rest of us might be better off snuggling up with a copy of Wayne’s World until this all blows over.
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