The Love Guru (2008)

Pitka an American raised outside of his country by gurus, returns to the States in order to break into the self-help business. His first challenge: To settle the romantic troubles and subsequent professional skid of a star hockey player whose wife left him for a rival athlete.

Director:

Marco Schnabel

Writers:

Mike Myers, Graham Gordy

Stars:

Jessica Simpson, Mike Myers, Jessica Alba

3 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jessica Simpson	...	Jessica Simpson
Kanye West	...	Kanye West
Mike Myers	...	Guru Pitka / Young Pitka / Teenage Pitka / Mike Myers
Deepak Chopra	...	Deepak Chopra
Rob Blake	...	Rob Blake
Jessica Alba	...	Jane Bullard
Justin Timberlake	...	Jacques Grande
Romany Malco	...	Darren Roanoke
Verne Troyer	...	Coach Punch Cherkov
Meagan Good	...	Prudence Roanoke
Manu Narayan	...	Rajneesh
John Oliver	...	Dick Pants
Stephen Colbert	...	Jay Kell
Jim Gaffigan	...	Trent Lueders
Ben Kingsley	...	Guru Tugginmypudha

Storyline

Born in America, but raised in Havemahkeeta in India, with a population of 76, Maurice had always to better Deepak Chopra, and be sexually active, ever since he was 12. His Guru, Tugginmypudha, while approving of Deepak, cautions Maurice and has a chastity belt put around his waist. Years later, Maurice has established himself as Guru Pitka in America, but would like to appear in the Oprah Show and be better than Deepak Chopra. When Jane Bullard from the the Toronto Maple Leafs hires him to counsel their star hockey player, Darren Roanoke, to win back his wife, Prudence, from Kings' star player, Jacques Grande, and also stand up to his dominating mother, Lilian, he agrees to do so - with hilarious results.

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Plot Keywords:

guru | hockey | chastity belt | toronto maple leafs | box office flop | 

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Taglines:

His Karma is Huge

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content throughout, language, some comic violence and drug references

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [fr]

Country:

USA UK Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 June 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Untitled Mike Myers Project

Filming Locations:

Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$62,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£498,829 (UK) (1 August 2008)

Gross:

$32,178,777 (USA) (22 August 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Goldcrest Pictures, Internationale Filmproduktion Poseidon

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene where Pitka (Mike Myers) and Jane Bullard (Jessica Alba) are on the plane and said she turned for advice from gurus when her dad died, is based on a real life situation by Mike Myers after his father died.

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Goofs

During the first game between Toronto and LA, Roanoke and Grande get into a fight. The referee informs Roanoke that he has been given a game suspension which is actually called a game misconduct.

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Quotes

Guru Pitka: Rajneesh, I'd like an alligator soup, and make it snappy. Because alligators are snappy, and at the same time, I want it prompt.

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Crazy Credits

One outtake with Verne Troyer is shown during the end credits.

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Connections

References Battlestar Galactica (1978)

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Soundtracks

"Mere Mitwa Mere Meet Re"
Written by Anandji Veerji Shah (as Kalanji Anandji), Anand Bakshi and Hasrat Jaipuri (as Hasret Jaipuri)
Performed by Lata Mangeshkar (as Lata Mangeskar) and Mohammad Rafi (as Mohd. Rafi)
Courtesy of Saregama HMV India
By Arrangement with The Royalty Network, Inc.

User Reviews

Jumping the Shark is too kind a phrase for this mess!

If you hate Mike Myers then this movie will be your holy grail...the one you hold high and proclaim loudly "See, I told you this A-Hole wasn't funny!"

If you love Mike Myers (as I do, in a totally manly non-ancient-Greece type way) then you'll just have to hang your head and silently agree.

What in Krishna's name went wrong here? How could these people have sat in an editing room and watched this hundreds of times during the final cut and not said to themselves " I have to save Mike Myers from himself!" I only had to watch the first fifteen minutes ONCE before I was ready to walk out.

How do I hate thee, let me count the ways; BAD acting, BAD casting, BAD writing, BAD directing, BAD dialogue, BAD excuse for a hockey mask (What is this, 1975?)

Is there anything good in this movie? YES! Romany Malco (Weeds, The 40 Year Old Virgin) rises above the dreck by playing a real person in a comic book universe. He's funny, sympathetic and believable; in short, everything this movie IS NOT.

I did get some good laughs though, out of the previews for "Tropic Thunder" and "Hamlet II". Do yourself a favor and miss this one (throwing up popcorn is a painful experience!)