Ah, thanks. As "The Love Guru" creeps closer to a multiplex near you, reviews have started to filter in from advance test screenings of the film -- in which Myers plays Pitka, a guru who attempts to mend the broken heart of a star player for the Leafs after his wife begins dating L.A. Kings star Jacques Grande (Justin Timberlake).
So is the flick any good? Do we have another "Austin Powers" on our hands, or a cinematic hockey atrocity on a "Slap Shot 2" level? Ain't It Cool News offers some muted praise and potential trouble for one of the summer's biggest comedies.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the AICN review system, here's how it works: Fanboy sees screening, pens poorly written review, the editors hope they aren't being duped by a studio hack, and then the review runs with a goofy codename attached to protect the innocent when they return to their job running the projector at the local theater. So from "spy" Secret Squirel, here's a snip of the first "Love Guru" review:
Jessica Alba was hot... Justin Timberlake was funny... and Vern Troyer proved he can sorta act... but anyway you slice it, midgets equal funny. The hockey scenes were lame (Oh yeah... the movie is about a black superstar hockey player that can't play anymore because the goalie of the opposing team stole his wife and the Toronto Maple Leafs pay a Guru to get them back together. However, the guru has his own agenda to be the worlds greatest Guru so he needs to get on Oprah and figures if he can do this she will put him on) and the last time I checked i thought there were more than 7 or 8 guys on a team... but i suppose that doesn't matter. Thats about all I have to say about the movie. It was not really memorable like the Austin Powers movies... but it wasn't an unpleasant experience by far.
Two more reviews from the same screening hit the site later in the week, including this one by Jersey Jedi that delves deeper into the hockey humor: The supporting cast basically add up to a list of extended cameos, but when it comes to the previous Myers flicks, the cameos most often were the bits that I laughed at the most. Notably, The Maple Leafs announcers are played by Jim Jim Gaffigan and Stephen Colbert, and they brought down the house. I could have watched an entire movie with Colbert's cracked out announcer baiting Jim Gaffigan, but hopefully there's more footage that will be released on DVD. There's also a moment with Myers being interviewed as himself as a spectator at the Leafs' game that was [nasty, non-FanHouse friendly word deleted] fantastic. I won't ruin it here, but I'm sure you can guess who else he's being interviewed with.Who? Dana Carvey? Darcy Tucker? The Ghost of Conn Smythe? I don't think I could be more intrigued yet perpetually perplexed by another movie. Be sure to check out "The Love Guru" trailer here if you haven't already.
