The reviews of Mike Myers's new movie The Love Guru have started to come through, and things aren’t looking rosy for the Canadian funnyman.
While his Wayne's World and Austin Powers series were smash hits worldwide, the gratuitous and hokey Love Guru looks to be one of the most panned movies in the American summer period.
The risk of using rookie director Marco Schnabel has not paid dividends for Myers, with many critics saying the story is paper thin and lacks any solid sense of character development, and the movie relies heavily on cheap gags and awkward pauses.
One of the first reviews is from Variety's Brian Lowry, who says:
"The porous plot, actually, is all secondary to the shtick, and working completely unfettered by first-time director Marco Schnabel, Myers cheerfully unleashes a steady barrage of hit-and-mostly-miss gags that range from Bollywood numbers (pretty funny) to repeated use of “Mariska Hargitay” (yes, the name of the “Law & Order” star) as a felicitous greeting to elephant erotica (not that funny for anybody who’s ever been to the zoo). With “Powers”’ “Mini-Me", Verne Troyer, as the Leafs’ hockey coach, there’s also a near-limitless supply of runt, elf and Hobbit jokes."
Not helping Myers's comedic cause is the massive backlash from the Indian community, who feel that the movie is offensive, and insults Hindus.
And while the movie may be a setback for Myers, his upcoming portrayal of zany The Who drummer, Keith Moon, could inject some vital mojo into his career.
The Love Guru is being released this weekend, with the equally panned adaptation of 1960's spy comedy Get Smart, starring Steve Carrel.