Trailer: Mike Meyer’s “Love Guru”
Filed Under Movies
I never got to see Mike Myers develop the central character for Love Guru when he was workshopping it at the Magnet Theater, but I heard some pretty positive stuff (includes this and this) that suggested to me that the character wasn’t so much of a broad goof, but played a bit more real like the first Austin Powers movie. (In that film, the central conceit of a man out of his time allowed for some smart gags about today vs. the 60s revealed through character.) It’s hard to see that in this trailer however - which looks to me a lot like Austin Powers 4, even converting the “mole” jokes from the third into the “shrimp” joke of the trailer. But the broader jokes are sometimes the best way to sell trailers, so I’m still somwhat hopeful that the spirit of the live shows is still in “Love Guru.” Still, it’s pretty disturbing to me that the thing I like best about this trailer is Justin Timberlake’s character. Do you feel that way too?
What I never understood about Guru Pitka is how many people were genuinely excited to see Mike Myers “workshop” this character when the vast majority of alterna-comedy fans out there simply loathe Mike Myers. It’s as if suddenly overnight everyone changed their tune because he decided to grace a small NYC improv theater with his presence.
It seems to me Mike Myers knew he could score some “indie cred” by having these semi-secret shows and not much else. The results in this trailer are abysmal. Even Peter Sellers at his worst was more creative than this.