Starring Mike Myers, Jessica Alba. Written by Mike Myers and Graham
Gordy. Directed by Marco Schnabel. (14A) 86 min. Opens June 20.
Mike Myers’ first starring role in four years — not counting lazy voice work in Shrek — has been greeted with accusations of religious and cultural insensitivity, but it’s far too slight and silly to make Myers into the next Michael Richards. That, however, won’t spare him from charges that The Love Guru is his worst project yet (and in this case, lazy voice-acting in Shrek sequels does count.)
Myers’ latest creation is Pitka, a Maharishi-style holy man who must help a hockey player (Weeds/40-Year-Old Virgin star Romany Malco) reconnect with his wife so that Pitka can appear on Oprah and be named the best self-help guru in the world. That’s the plot. Well, that and he also wants to get with the unrealistically young and attractive owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, played by Jessica Alba.
It feels as if Myers couldn’t decide between making a movie about a guru or a hockey movie, so he forced the two threads together. The half-baked script isn’t helped by the cast’s mugging or the retread Austin Powers gags (sexual innuendo, lame puns, goofy accents, gratuitous musical numbers, Verne Troyer, etc).
What does work — Stephen Colbert’s supporting role is far too good for this movie — is barely enough to fill a mediocre SNL sketch. Yet, so apparent is Myers talent, it’s hard not to hope he can bounce back from this debacle.