Why ‘The Love Guru’ might be Mike Myers’ worst movie ever

What happened

Mike Myers’ first movie in over five years, The Love Guru, opens on Friday, and so far reviews for the film have been almost unanimously negative. In his latest comedy, the Austin Powers star plays a guru who travels to America with hopes of breaking into the self-help business.

What the commentators said

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“Myers is back with a new character so obnoxious and annoying that you’ll be praying for the return of Austin Powers, who comes off as intelligent and clever by comparison,” said Edward Douglas in Comingsoon.net’s blog The Weekend Warrior. And the movie itself is “offensive, revolting and jawdropingly awful from beginning to end, a complete and total piece of Singularly Horrid Infantile Trash.” Myers’ “heyday” was about “eight to ten years ago”—he doesn’t have much to offer now.

Reviewers certainly haven’t been kind to The Love Guru so far, said Tom O’Neil in the Los Angeles Times blog Gold Derby. “It looks like the only kudos coming Mike Myers’ way this year will be Razzie Awards.” And the movie is “currently rated as an absolute zero by Rotten Tomatoes”—it doesn’t get much worse than that.

Are you kidding? said the MontrealFilmJournal.com. Myers is back in fine form. In The Love Guru, “he’s so spirited, good-natured and clearly having a blast being a goofball that it’s almost impossible not to be won over.” And Myers’ “enthusiasm” is “contagious”—Justin Timberlake is “hilarious,” and Stephen Colbert and The Daily Show’s John Oliver are great, too.