Bad Movie Beatdown: The Love Guru (REVIEW) 

This review was originally posted July 2014, and this is a re-edited version that runs 5m 21s shorter than the original. This episode was restored and re-cut from the original edit file, with substantial changes: - Now in full 1080p! - Film footage has been re-encoded at 1080p. This was one of the first episodes in HD, and I remember this caused problems because halfway through the film, the encode weirdly started playing at a reduced frame rate. This is now also fixed. - Film clips have been shortened to a minimum. This includes using slowmotion to mitigate the amount used under voiceover. - Extensive edits to shorten or remove dragging syllables throughout. - Added some additional visual notes. This episode has been restored to coincide with Trolls World Tour, which also stars Justin Timberlake. Enjoy!

I have heard two rumors about Cat in the Hat and The Love Guru. One states that Myers didn't want to make Cat in the Hat and to get back to the studio, he intentionally made his performance as bad as possible. Another says that when shooting for the Love Guru started, Myers told the Director something like "Yeah, this is my baby, I'm not gonna listen to you, sorry."

Man this movie is almost as bad as demo reel by Doug Walker 😂

Poor Verne Troyer. Even if he hadn't passed away, the constant jokes about his size would still be awkward and uncomfortable, but looking back on this film, they're even more so.

I do think Myke Myers is an example of how stars are sometimes given way too much credit for a movies success. Shrek wasn't good or funny because of Myke Myers performance. Myke Myers performance was good and funny because of the hard work of the direction and writing that played towards Myers strenghts and not going overboard. But then, after they get succesful, these comedians believe themselves comedic geniuses and begin to demand more and more creative control and you end up with movies filled with unfunny jokes that feel more like unending sketches that have a bunch of loosely tied things that happen, which they wrongfully call a "plot". This is not to say that comedians can't save a character. One example is Jim Carrey's grinch. which a lot of the charisma comes from Carrey himself.

Mike Myers was one of my favorite comedians as a kid. I never saw this movie in theaters but damn, I can't believe how bad this movie is. If anything needs spiritual healing, it's his career.

This is also a really mean-spirited movie, which is strange for a film that's meant to be about positive healing.

The only good thing about this movie is that voiceover machine from the start. Why has nobody mass-produced this thing? That's a goldmine if ever I've seen one. So many possibilities. You could sound like Christopher Lee, James Earl Jones, Liam Neeson, Ian McKellen, Mark Hamill, Patrick Stewart or whatever other cool voice you can think of! Someoe make his machine a reality already!

I guess Meyers found his own "A Thousand Words."

MAN....the damage this film did to so many careers

For a film that cost $62 Million apparently, this film looks really cheap-reused footage [20:09], awful blue screen [20:27], bad special effects, C-List cameos...

I think Mike Myers had a couple of huge successes and believed his PR hype far too much. Believing he could do no wrong with his films. What he needed was someone to say "NO!" to him when he was too smug and sniffing his own farts.

The Austin Power's sequels contain a lot of regurgitated gag's which suggests Myer's isn't really that creative-the Guru characters was also supposed to be in Austin Power's 2 I believe.

Sasha Baron Cohen would had made this a much better dark comedy

I remember John Oliver once talking about Shaq’s filmography, describing them as “films SO BAD I keep looking for myself playing a side character in them.” I’m pretty sure he only took the Smurf films so he could joke about them in his podcast with Andy Zalzmann.

Mike Myers used to be my hero, my god, the Austin powers movies played constantly on a loop in my top right corner long after I memorised the lines. Then this came along...... why oh why :(

My reactions when I first heard about this movie: "Oh no..." And then I quickly walked away and forgot about it, and never looked back.

Seeing John Oliver in this was physically painful. I guess he was young and needed the money or exposure, but still.

Bizarrely, Marco Schnabel's (the director) career has improved in the past few years, as he's been writing for the recent and underrated Mr. Peabody & Sherman and Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons and even for NCIS.

I feel like Mike Myers played in better movies, like Wayne's World and Auston Powers, and he did a better job in those films than in the Love Guru

Matthew Buck is declared the greatest critic ever known...👏👏👏

This movie could've been good if they genuinely tried to take down conartist Gurus like Deepak.

I love Mike Myers I think he's a funny guy, but to see his talents and charisma wasted in this godawful film just pains me to see his career stink.

I despise this movie. This movie actually physically hurts to watch. I want every copy of this movie to burn.

"Heh, they don't make comedy movies like this, no more" Yeah, no fucking shit

Despite Myers as Pitka constantly making terrible jokes, even when he is with Jessica Alba's character,Jessica constantly still acts like she is attracted to him and smiles and acts like the innuendos don't bother her one bit. But even Alba herself is aware of how many duds she has appeared in. 21:32 But at least, I definantly see your point with this bit.

“I had a hat like that once. THEN MY MOM GOT A JOB.”

"Laugh dammit!" Mike Myers

IMHO, Myers' big mistake was not realising how much comedy had changed by the time this was released. Had it been released towards the start of the 2000s rather than the end it would still have been a bad movie, but one that would have at least been fairly typical for the time period. By 2008, however, Judd Apatow and his buddies had come along and rewritten the rule book on how big-screen comedy should be done, meaning that this didn't just come across as a bad movie, but a horribly, embarrassingly outdated one as well.

the funniest thing about the love guru has to be the fact everyone on set most definitely had to call ben kingsley "sir" during the entire production lmao

What is it with every quirky new age character in media having to be friends with Deepak Chopra anyway? Why can’t we have ultra-rational science based characters be friends with Hehmant Mehta assuming anyone knows who that is?

1:31 I almost didn't think Myers was anywhere knew THAT extreme when it came to being difficult to work with. While that is relevant, it was mainly because some of the time, he kept getting paid to make films for big studios who wanted to use Myer's pension for excesive humor to their attention (like with Cat in the Hat and this film) and wanted to keep him typecast as a foul-mouthed man-child with a British accent. Despite his reputation, he never wanted to do The Cat in the Hat because of the changes to the script and was FORCED to star in it. So yeah, sometimes its him, sometimes its the studios. You just can't tell who's doing what with their work. That's life, I guess.

Oh God John Oliver, not you too! This film seems like a hot pile of garbage. I am glad that I finally got to see your review though. The things they tried to pass off as jokes... yikes.

Hi Film Brain I hope that you are staying safe and are happy during this quarantine, God bless you for all you do and keep up the great work.🤎

Damn...and I thought Cat in the Hat was worse....

11:24 Val Kilmer is uncredited for this cameo. Hence this film was so bad he took his name off it. Think about that for a second...

I really like the added 'Note from the Future' about Troyer. The least they could have done for him after how he's treated in the movie.

This movie was so bad. So very, very bad. Not a single laugh to be had.

It's been 15 years since this movie came out and the Maple Leafs have yet to win another Stanley Cup. 🤔

Fun fact: The kid that Mike Meyers has nightmarishly CGI'd his head onto is one of the 'Beat Kidz!" from Wonder Showzen. Specifically the kid they dressed up as Hitler and sent out onto the street for interviews.

"Pressure makes diamonds" "It also makes rubble" is at least one quote from this racist embarrassment that i still remember to this day. And I guess I'm a sucker for characters with abusive parents. I still don't get the "I used to wear a hat like that, and then my mom got a job" joke.

Despite it all, the most unbelievable thing in this entire movie has to be the Leafs winning the Stanley Cup.

This movie is stunningly racist.

Fun fact: I actually saw Celine Dion live during her last tour earlier this year. It was one of the last concerts I saw before the virus really blew up and everyone went on quarantine. Anyway, I’m in the 300 level of the arena, in a section pretty close to the stage. I saw her at right around the same distance from her as the shot in the movie. A thought that raced in my mind throughout the show was: Well, at least I know the woman I’m seeing right now is Celine, I like what Mike Myers tried to make people believe was her in Love Guru!

Gods, Derek Chopra? Hearing that name as part of anything is never a good sign.

Check on some research, he wanted pika to apper on austin powers but was scraped, so he decided to have his charecter to appear on comedy clubs in 2005 title "his excellent and hollyness guru pika" And he debut in the season 7 finale of American idol

15:17 Because that's another thing Mike Myers usually does in his films but then the studios take it too seriously. Take Cat in the Hat for example.

18:55 - Freddie Mercury is rolling in his grave.

By far the most unrealistic part of this movie is having the Leafs being anywhere close to winning the Stanley cup. Especially since their entire strategy apparently relies on this one player, which makes absolutely no sense.

The chasity belt joke might be inconsistent probably because the flashback scenes were shot later I don't know

I've watched several reviews of this tearing it apart and this bmbd several times. It never gets old though because this movie is horrible!

The best Mike Myers movies are Wayne's World, Austin Powers Series and even Shrek 1 & 2.

3:55 - 3:58 I just looked on IMDB to see if Morgan Freeman was really credited in this film but turned out I got duped when Mike Myers was impersonatiing him when speaking into a voice-over recorder. Goddamn it, Universal studios! Why do you do this to us? You just LOVE Mike Myers, don't you? DON'T YOU?!

Let's be honest, was Mike Myers ever really that funny?

If I had a nickel for every ice skating comedy that featured Romany Malco, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice, right? (Except, of course, Blades of Glory is actually funny)

Script for Sprockets was “sub standard” but Austin Powers part III, Wayne’s World part II and The Love Guru was “standard”?!

Perfect assessment Matthew, but one thing: Myers did do films between Goldmember and this: View From The Top and the aforementioned Cat In The Hat.

I voted this as my worst movie of 2008.

God there’s finally a long, in depth review of this mess. More RU-vid reviewers have to cover this one

19:51 Yeah that probably makes sense that he should narrate but with Universal continuing to add Mike Myers making fun of movie narration and having him literally speaking into a different voice in a voice recorder, they would just prefer to take it that literally, anyway.

This is the most underrated channel on youtube!

John Oliver... Ben Kingsley... why are you in this?

Verne troyer litterley carried every mike myers movie that he was in and this is how he repays him 😅

17:44 My absolute favorite moment of this review is the juxtaposition of Myer's ecstatic (annoying, even) declaration and Mathew's loathing parody of it immediately after. So so funny for such a simple joke 😂

What the fuck JOHN OLIVER was in this movie? Man what a trip. Also hilarious how his status has blown up so much bigger in the latter half of the decade this film came out in.

I literally just have bad movie beat down videos downloaded for my YT Premium 😹 Such an enjoyable content creator that is sorely missed

I heard a high pitched Wilhelm scream.

This movie is currently on Netflix. Staying away from that stink pile for sure.

3:37 I remember that he randomly appeared in the Margot Robbie vanity project 'Terminal' which was mentioned in the 2018 review.

One of your best. Honestly, after this, Mike Myers doesn’t deserve a comeback. His asshole nature and his declining work doesn’t prove anything other than he’s lost it. Say what you will about Eddie Murphy or Adam Sandler but as they proved last year, they can hit big. I doubt Myers can, and maybe it’s for the best.

4:44 Yeah, I clearly don't even know how that got into the script but maybe the screenwriter and Myers himself didn't even realize what it could mean for the film itself before they carried on and wrote MORE crap in. You could say he ad-libbed that line since he DID know how the film will turn out like he did with The Cat in the Cat and he's hated THAT film since. But I can see where you're coming from either way.

I don’t think this movie should have won worst picture not because its good but because I believe the joint nominated disaster movie and meet the spartans should have won

Man that sheer level of arrogance and smug sense of 'self awareness' always pissed me off about Myers' comedy. Especially when he lingers on a particular joke that isn't actually that funny. I never found Wayne's World or the Austin Powers movies to be particularly that funny to begin with, but like with Adam Sandler's early work Mike's earlier stuff at least had a somewhat decent script and talent behind them whereas the Love Guru takes all the negative traits seen in his older work and magnifies them tenfold.

Wow. I think ten-year-old me had a less juvenile sense of humor than this film.

My reaction while watching "Cats" 9:02

This movie has no focus.

This movie feels like sexual harassment 😐

As an NHL hockey fan I feel ashamed they said yes to this 😒

I have only one thing to say about this movie: *BURP* *FART* *Shoots booger out of nostril into trashcan* *DING* Yep!

5:22 Is that suppose to be a joke? I can easily see black people playing street hockey!

15:10 Mike Myers did the exact same thing in The Cat in the Hat.

I was actually pretty excited for this movie back in 2008... and I remember watching it in 2009 when we had Bell Cable... and I remember liking this turd... apparently. I feel so guilty after hearing that it was bad.

‘the only things he thinks about are himself and sex’ so it’s basically austin powers 2.0. i mean austin powers makes sense because it’s a parody of both james bond and the free love movements of the 60s. making a horny guru on the other hand? like it could work if the aim was to subvert expectations or show how his lecherous behaviour makes him a failure among other gurus, but i don’t really see that here. it just could’ve been so much funnier i guess.

I counted eleven confirmed dick jokes in just that review and I must emphasize the "confirmed" part. I thought the stinkmop scene and the elephant sex scene were too indirect to count. Guru Suchabigknobba also doesn't count because his one scene with dialogue was cut from the final movie.

RIP Verne Troyer.

John Oliver must keep losing bets or getting Blackmailed or something because he keeps winding up in trash movies. Come on man, you’re funny, stop showing up in these things and get back to depressing Americans with sad facts about their country.

Unfunny and cringe. Ridiculous, really. He's overestimating himself in this movie.

Oh boy, a classic one! Man I am glad for reviewers like you, that I don't have to watch this crap. Hard to believe this guy did Austin Powers, which was really funny.

I used to think John Oliver could do no wrong ... then I found out he was in this movie...

Possibly the worst film I have ever paid to see at the cinema.

On the penalty shot, I believe the clock stops. It’s like a free throw in basketball, the clock doesn’t run

Also Mike Myers is stealing that voice from Sacha Baron Cohen's voice role as the lemur from Madagascar.

I do wonder if he got any relation to another Mike Myers... though that guy calls himself Michael, and wears a Shatner mask. :P Huh, never knew he was on Wayne's World. I still have not seen that movie or show. And I always forget he voiced Shrek.

I’m so happy I didn’t see this movie. I’m a fan of mike but this looks horrible! It was hard watching this review because it was soo bad!

Man, this movie is worse than I thought. I used to say that out of all the movies Film Brain has reviewed (on Bad Movie Beatdown), I had always said Good Luck Chuck was the worst... until it was dethroned by The Cavern. But The Love Guru is definitely #3 in the worst movies on BMB. Speaking of which, Mat, are reuploads of Good Luck Chuck and The Cavern on the horizon?

Complains about Myers portraying an Indian stereotype. Has no problem with Timberlake portraying a French Canadian stereotype.

I sooner belive he's putting on a John lovitz impression

Review The Last AirBender

The only thing worse than every clip from the movie, is EVERY time this guy turns the camera on himself and makes us suffer through the hideous horror that is his voice / gestures… And really, its not just when he turns the camera on himself, its actually every single grating, hysterical, brain-hemorrhage-inducing word he speaks. The audio of this youtube video, from start to 9 mins in, (the longest i could stand to hear it) is EASILY the worst ear torture i’ve EVER suffered through. It is going to take a full nights sleep, and most of the following day for me to recover from having been tortured by this video’s audio track.. Holy crap

Are the Kings and leaves the only hockey teams in this world? You could have had more hockey teams!