Far more entertaining than reading the reviews

Rating: Null/10 (20 June 2008)

If you like the Austin Powers films, and you are not Hindu or gay, and you do not have a hatred of the long-suffering Toronto Maple Leafs, then there is a very good chance you will enjoy The Love Guru. The hit Mike Meyers films, live action or animated, contain scatological humor. Let's face it. This isn't finger-to-cheek recognition of humorous intent over a cup of bitter tea. This is just plain fun and you can either laugh out loud at some cheap laughs mixed into a few expensive ones or not. Seeing Sir Ben Kingsley take on the low-brow role as the mentor of Pitka is a delight; anyone else in the role wouldn't have been as amusing. There are some off-the-cuff politically incorrect terms used for gay, which no doubt irk many film critics enough to pad their reviews with exaggerated pronouncements about the entertainment overall. Apart from those concerns, the experience of watching the film would be quite like watching Austin Powers except that the stakes are more on a personal Wayne's World level. I'm not a hockey fan, but I don't mind a movie about it so that shouldn't impede your enjoyment. It is interesting to see Hockey Night in Canada depicted with it's original theme song intact, even though this will date the film. The audience I saw it with in Toronto seemed to be with it and enjoy the sophomoric twists on self-help catch phrases. It is both paying tribute to a fad that was popular a few years ago and also being irreverent first and foremost.