When reviews make you laugh this much, it's not always a good thing...
I never really intended to see The Love Guru, Mike Myers' new film. I liked the Austin Powers films but, like pretty much everything Mike Myers has ever done, they haven't aged very well (also see: the Wayne's World movies, which got old about a month after they were released). This one seems to have expired before filming ended:
Roger Ebert: " Myers has made some funny movies, but this film could have been written on toilet walls by callow adolescents."
The New York Times: "To say that the movie is not funny is merely to affirm the obvious. The word “unfunny” surely applies to Mr. Myers’s obnoxious attempts to find mirth in physical and cultural differences but does not quite capture the strenuous unpleasantness of his performance. No, “The Love Guru” is downright antifunny, an experience that makes you wonder if you will ever laugh again."
MSNBC.com: "A cinematic bed of nails."
Slate.com: "There are good movies. There are bad movies. There are movies so bad they're good (though, strangely, not the reverse). And once in a while there is a movie so bad that it takes you to a place beyond good and evil and abandons you there, shivering and alone. Watching The Love Guru (Paramount Pictures) is a spiritual experience of a sort, but not the sort that its creator and star, Mike Myers, intended. This tale of a guru who brings joy to all who meet him is the most joy-draining 88 minutes I've ever spent outside a hospital waiting room. In the course of those long minutes, Myers leads you on a journey deep inside himself, to the source from whence his comedy springs-and it's about as much fun as a tour of someone's large intestine."
On one level, you kind of have to respect a movie that elicits such creative and amusing responses. On the practical, ticket-buying level, though, I bet I got more laughs from the reviews than I would from the film. The most favorable review I could find praised Myers for his willingness to open himself up to ridicule and wait to see if he survived, but the movie still sucked (SF Chronicle). I think I'll skip this one. Which means we'll have to find something else to go see this weekend.
Roger Ebert: " Myers has made some funny movies, but this film could have been written on toilet walls by callow adolescents."
The New York Times: "To say that the movie is not funny is merely to affirm the obvious. The word “unfunny” surely applies to Mr. Myers’s obnoxious attempts to find mirth in physical and cultural differences but does not quite capture the strenuous unpleasantness of his performance. No, “The Love Guru” is downright antifunny, an experience that makes you wonder if you will ever laugh again."
MSNBC.com: "A cinematic bed of nails."
Slate.com: "There are good movies. There are bad movies. There are movies so bad they're good (though, strangely, not the reverse). And once in a while there is a movie so bad that it takes you to a place beyond good and evil and abandons you there, shivering and alone. Watching The Love Guru (Paramount Pictures) is a spiritual experience of a sort, but not the sort that its creator and star, Mike Myers, intended. This tale of a guru who brings joy to all who meet him is the most joy-draining 88 minutes I've ever spent outside a hospital waiting room. In the course of those long minutes, Myers leads you on a journey deep inside himself, to the source from whence his comedy springs-and it's about as much fun as a tour of someone's large intestine."
On one level, you kind of have to respect a movie that elicits such creative and amusing responses. On the practical, ticket-buying level, though, I bet I got more laughs from the reviews than I would from the film. The most favorable review I could find praised Myers for his willingness to open himself up to ridicule and wait to see if he survived, but the movie still sucked (SF Chronicle). I think I'll skip this one. Which means we'll have to find something else to go see this weekend.