What can be said in the first place about Mike Myers’ latest production, “The Love Guru,” is that it creates a vicious circle. The movie is so rich in less-evolved sophomoric humor, containing plenty of bathroom humor that it could only be suitable for the mind and taste of 10-year boys. On the other hand, Myers’ appetite for penis jokes granted the movie a PG-13 rating that stands great chances of hindering the 10-year boys from watching it. Hence the vicious circle.

As a matter of fact, this week-end brought in theatres two comedies that are hard to watch. Firstly, there is the rendition of the spy TV series of the same name, “Get Smart,” which is anything but funny, though it is said to be an action comedy. Secondly, we have “The Love Guru” which contains mostly bad-quality humor.

We have to recognize Mike Myers’ merits until this shtick: his “Austin Powers” spy comedies, borrowing his voice to ogre Shrek, “The Cat In The Hat,” or his “Saturday Night Live” contributions. This funnyman is a funny man, however this gig is not by far his best performance.

“The Love Guru” features the story of Maurice Pitka, an American who grew up in an Indian ashram, as he was left there as a baby. Brought up by gurus, he is determined to become one of them and later he returns in US to teach spirituality and self-help (unorthodox) techniques. Pitka writes best-sellers bearing nonsense titles “Stop Hitting Yourself. Stop Hitting Yourself. Why Are You Still Hitting Yourself?” or “If You’re Happy and You Think It, Think Again” (his readers probably considered that if they couldn’t guess the sense in that, it meant that it was too deep).

Pitka is the second guru after Deepak Chopra and is determined to outstrip the latter’s fame. Soon he receives a proposal that could feed his crave for recognition and popularity: he is promised to appear in an “Oprah” show provided he resolves the marital problems of the star player of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Darren Roanoke (Romany Malco). Roanoke learnt that his wife, Prudence (Meagan Good) hooked up with the L.A. Kings' goaltender, Jacques 'Le Coq' Grande (a funny Justin Timberlake) and is not able to play anymore. Therefore, the owner of the Maple Leafs, Jane Bullard (Jessica Alba) asks for the love guru’s help.

Well, that might be an audience-drawer detail: Jessica Alba. Maybe due to her being so cute, she can also draw some (admiration) smiles from the audiences, as the moments meant to be funny in the movie stand no chance (except for the 10-year boys we’ve already mentioned). The movie also includes some cameo roles, Jessica Simpson, Val Kilmer, and Mariska Hargitay (her appearance generates a notable joke) playing themselves, as stars turning to Pitka’s help.

The plot of the movie revolves around Pitka’s techniques to bring Roanoke and Prudence back together, blending also some other secondary themes, like Jane becoming the guru’s love interest.

Probably there is no wonder that the same Mike Myers was part of the writing team, alongside Graham Gordy, whereas the director is Marco Schnabel, who also previously worked with Myers in 2002’s “Austin Powers in Goldmember.” What is to wonder is how many 10-year-old boys will watch the movie.

Movie Type:Comedy
MPAA Rating:PG-13 for crude and sexual content throughout, language, some comic violence and drug references.
Directed By: Marco Schnabel
Cast: Mike Myers, Jessica Alba, Romany Malco, Verne Troyer, Justin Timberlake, Ben Kingsley, Meagan Good
Released: June 20th, 2008 (wide)
U.S. Box Office: TBA