If you don’t count his voice work in a couple of Shrek sequels, Mike Myers has been absent from the screen since 2003’s The Cat in the Hat (and if you saw him in that, our condolences). His comeback vehicle, The Love Guru, looks like the usual sort of Myers silliness, what with the funny accents and characters named Satchabigknoba and Tugginmypudha and the return of Mini-Me. But according to an Entertainment Weekly profile on Myers, his new movie “is not just a vehicle for a new set of catchphrases; it's an effort to impart uplifting messages about love, joy, and self-acceptance.” Quoth Myers: “It's a delivery system for some wonderful ideas.” Oh my sides!
Some of the Austin Powers star’s previous collaborators might take exception at the notion of Myers imparting any love and joy. EW quotes a few anonymous execs, one of whom sums up the prevailing sentiment succinctly: “I honestly root against him.” The only trash-talker willing to speak on the record is Wayne’s World director Penelope Spheeris, who says, “Maybe he could open, like, a children's hospital to clean up his rep. He's got to do something pretty quick.” Apparently Myers never wanted Dana Carvey to co-star in the big screen version of the SNL sketch, seeing him as a comedic threat, but the last straw for Spheeris was when Myers stormed off the set in a huff because there was no margarine for his bagel. (Later in the piece, Spheeris gets weirdly touchy-feely herself, saying that after seeing the first Austin Powers, she forgave his bad behavior. I’m not sure how that works, but no doubt Myers is thrilled to be forgiven.)
Anyone expecting the comedian’s latest to be a scathing send-up of guru types should be forewarned that Myers’ new BFF is New Age self-help mogul Deepak Chopra. Indeed, according to the Hollywood Reporter, Chopra has posted an online defense of The Love Guru, “in response to members of the Hindu community who have said the comedy is offensive and mocks their faith.” Writes Chopra: “The premature outcry against the movie is itself religious propaganda…As viewers will find out when the movie is released this summer, no one is more thoroughly skewered in it than I am — you could even say that I am made to seem preposterous.”
Related:
Trailer Review: The Love Guru
Austin Powers 4. Seriously.