CAST:  Mike Myers, Jessica Alba, Justin Timberlake, Verne Troyer, Meagan Good, Manu Narayan, Romany Malco.

PLOT: Mike Myers plays an American who is left at a young age in the tiny village of Harenmahkeester.  Raised by the cross-eyed Guru Tugginmypuddha, he grows up to become Guru Pitka, the world’s second best authority on spiritual enlightenment.  Only his rival, Deepak Chopra, and the lack of an appearance on Oprah, stand in the way of Pitka’s ambitions to be number one.  So when Toronto Maple Leafs owner Jane Bullard (Jessica Alba), offers the guru $2 million to save her star player’s marriage, Pitka seizes the opportunity.  On the way, Pitka must deal with the Maple Leafs’ coach (Verne Troyer) and the French-Canadian villain, Los Angeles Kings goalie Jacques “Le Coq” Grande (Justin Timberlake), whose nickname leaves little to the imagination.

REVIEW: Mike Myers plays Pitka, an over-sexed, geographically displaced guru.  Expect the humor Myers is known for: slapstick contortionist acts, ridiculous characters, cameo appearances and enough sexual innuendo to make your head spin. Perhaps in a nod of respect to the guru culture it haphazardly navigates, it’s not quite as raunchy as Myers’ previous films. 

It does however touch on Bollywood.  And after seeing how much Myers’ Austin Powers series had a Bollywood feel, with it’s bright colors and song and dance numbers, we were pretty disappointed to see The Love Guru, lacked that.  Yes, it had the bright colors, but it lacked the song and dance aspect that we expected.  They did, however, have a Bollywood number at the very end, which was hilarious and maybe that may have made the rest of the film funnier.  While the didn’t set out to make this film Bollywood-esque, in our opinion it would have only added to it.     

VERDICT: This film’s not everyone’s cup o’ tea. In fact we give it a big fat OKAY, as in we expected more.  It’s potentially inflammatory treatment of gurus and it’s puerile sense of humor will offend some, and, fortunately or unfortunately, stereotypes are a staple of mainstream comedy.  So if you’re going to enjoy The Love Guru, it’s best to follow Guru Pitka’s own advice: “Enlightenment is all about lightening up.”  But if you take our advice, wait until it hits video stores, or don't even bother.

Desi Hits! Rating:  2 out of 5*

Review by: Albert Pfaffman 

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