Into the Blu

The Love Guru

Posted on 12. Nov, 2008 by Brian White in 1080p, 2.40:1, AVC MPEG-4, Comedy, Digital Copy, Dolby Digital 5.1 (French), Dolby Digital 5.1 (Spanish), Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (English), DreamWorks, Paramount, Reviews, Special Edition

OK…so yes…the premise of The Love Guru is about as ridiculous as the name of the movie sounds. Couldn’t you tell just by looking at the diverse characters on the Blu-ray Disc cover art? But there is just something about the movie that I find charming and it has become quite a guilty pleasure of mine. I can almost guarantee, out of all the reviews you will read on The Love Guru, mine will probably be the most kind. Many critics and reviewers will claim this movie is devoid of any laughs but I humbly disagree. My wife and I have sat through this movie three times now and we always found a one-liner we did not catch during the previous viewings. Oh…and did I mention the film stars Jessica Alba? If nothing else, she is always easy on the eyes in 1080P.

The movie centers on the Toronto Maple Leafs’ star forward, Darren Roanoke (Romany Malco). The Toronto Maple Leafs are about to face the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup. You could say that Darren Roanoke is completely lacking his magical touch on the ice as of late, because he recently lost his wife Prudence (Meagan Good) to the King’s goaltender Jacques Grande (Justin Timberlake). Needless to say, this makes the Toronto Maple Leafs feel very uneasy going into the Stanley Cup Finals. Let’s talk a moment about Justin Timberlake’s character Jacque Grande. Even though it is a Mike Myers movie, the real comedic star is Justin Timberlake. Not only did he have to learn how to survive on the ice but he also really pushed himself as an actor to deliver the laughs. The scenes in which Justin are in are some of the most memorable ones.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are desperate to try anything to get their star forward playing up to his normal excelling levels. A desperate measure happens when the team’s owner, Jan Bullard (Jessica Alba), seeks out the famed Guru Maurice Pitka (Mike Myers). At the same time, Guru Pitka is battling some demons of his own. He is unhappy that he is the #2 guru in the world, a title held by Deepak Chopra. He is convinced that if he can get on the Oprah Winfrey television show then he can become the #1 guru in the world. I can understand by now, the plot is probably starting to sound a bit too ridiculous for most tastes. We watch these movies for the comedic and entertaining elements, not for the seriousness, right? After attending the Guru Maurice Pitka’s seminar, Jane Bullard enlists the services of him to help Darren deal with his stress, get his wife back and help break the Toronto Maple Leafs’ losing streak of not winning a Stanley Cup championship since the days of Jane’s father. In addition to the financial gains that Guru Maurice Pitka would earn, he is told by his manager that if he is successful with Darren Roanoke, then he would be invited onto the Oprah Winfrey show. We all know what that would mean. That’s right…Guru Maurice Pitka could then become the #1 guru in the world.

The next half hour or so of the movie deals with three key plot lines simultaneously going on and intertwined together. First, we witness the trials and tribulations of the Guru Pitka trying to re-establish the much-needed confidence back into Darren Roanoke on and off the ice. He devises a plan to not only give Darren back his all-star playing abilities, but to win back his wife Prudence from the clutches of Jacques Grande. I am hoping you can probably put two and two together to comprehend what Jacque’s special attribute really is. Second, we witness a blossoming love relationship (this is really gross) between the Guru Pitka and Jane Bullard. However, there is one complication that is preventing them from getting together. Guru Pitka, since youth, has been forced to wear a chastity belt that he can only remove when he learns that fame is not the only reason for being a guru. Chastity belt? What chastity belt? See, now you all seem interested in the movie now that a sexual-related term has been used? Will Mike Myers and Jessica Alba’s characters get together on the big screen? I guess now I have you, the reader, trapped and you will just have to watch and find out. The third plot line revolves around the actual Stanley Cup Finals and the fact that it looks like the Toronto Maple Leafs will be going home losers again without help from their all-star forward.

So as one can see there are many variables going on in the film and many questions that will need to be answered. Will Darren Roanoke get his confidence and wife Prudence back? Will the Toronto Maple Leafs go home losers again in the Stanley Cup? Will the Guru Pitka succeed and become the #1 guru in the world once on the Oprah show? And what will become of Guru Pitka and Jane Bullard? This is hardly a movie to sneeze at and ignore. Wow! I hope I have you all feeling The Love Guru hype I am squeezing out here! In all honesty, you are either going to like this one or hate it very much. In my professional opinion, I can concur with others in that the laughs do seem forced most of the time and can be quite infrequent depending on your comedic tastes. As I stated before, I seem to be in the very small majority who actually like this film and that is why I refer to it as my secret guilty pleasure. The movie’s payoff for me was well worth it, as I tend to love the happy 40-Year-Old Virgin-like endings. Unfortunately, in the financial community, the film only grossed about half of what it cost to make, which equates to a big flop at the box office. It is not the first time I have liked a movie that was hailed as a critical failure and it certainly will not be the last. However, it does make me nervous about whether or not Mike Myers has what it takes to successfully pull off another rumored Austin Powers movie.

Video

Paramount has brought The Love Guru to the Blu-ray format in a stunning 1080P MPEG-4 AVC encode with an aspect ratio of 2.39:1. Ladies and gentleman, it does not get much better than this! With the exception of a small few, every shot is breathtakingly eye-popping with vibrant colors, incredible detail and three-dimensional qualities throughout. I refer to it as total eye candy. No I am not solely talking about seeing Jessica Alba in 1080P, although that couldn’t hurt the score. I am talking about the marvelous and very exceptional transfer that Paramount bestowed upon us. If I have to nitpick it would only be about very small quantities of shots that appeared soft but nothing that will take away from the overall clarity of the feature presentation. The skin tones are very accurate and the black levels are sharp with no presence of noise or grain. The fine textures in the fabrics and detail in the sets really shine in this Blu-ray transfer. The print is pristine and flawless, void of any source noise, speckles, artifacts or edge enhancement. Upon my first viewing of this Blu-ray, the video quality is what really stood out the most to me. I remember having to check and see if my glasses were truly on because I was stupefied by the clarity, and at times, the dumb-witted comedy. OK, there…I admitted it!

Audio

Paramount Pictures delivers us a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround mix. The Love Guru is such a mixed bag of nuts and bolts. While the video is monumental and a stunning sight to behold the audio is very forgetful. I don’t even want to use the term “like most comedies” here. I will just come out and say it. The audio is probably one of the weakest tracks in modern day Blu-ray releases. While the dialogue is clear and intelligible, I did find myself straining to listen at times. I had to turn my receiver’s volume a bit past my normal levels to hear all the conversations taking place. I changed my mind and I am going to use that cliché I mentioned previously. Like most comedies, The Love Guru is very front heavy and dialogue driven with only a few atmospheric events taking place in the rear speakers. This audio track is very disappointing considering this Blu-ray has a near reference quality video transfer. The only times the audio comes to life is during the hilarious Guru Pitka songs, the church choir scene and the action on the ice. Some of my favorite moments in the movie have to be the Mike Myer performances of “9 to 5,” “More Than Words” and “The Joker.”

Special Features

While there may not be an abundance of special features on The Love Guru Blu-ray release, at least they are all in High-Definition. This is more than I can say for most new Blu-ray releases. I have to pay respect and tip the hat to Paramount for delivering all the goods in High-Definition. A digital copy of the movie, contained on a second disc, is also provided for on the go viewing entertainment.

The list of special features, are as follows (in order as they appear on the disc’s back cover):

• Mike Myers and The Love Guru – An Inside Look – (HD) A very short 10-minute glimpse behind the scenes with the actors. There is nothing noteworthy here.

• One Hellava Elephant – (HD) This is a quick 6-minute behind the scenes documentary on the use and filming of the elephants within the movie.

• Hockey Training for Actors – (HD) This is probably the best of the mini documentaries contained on the disc. This 8-minute documentary shows us how they trained the actors to skate for real and the other real hockey players that were involved for delivering the authenticity of the NHL action on the ice.

• Deleted and Extended Scenes – (HD) There are about 18 minutes worth of deleted scenes, extensions, and even an alternate ending.

• Bloopers and Outtakes – (HD) There is a whopping 14 minutes combination of bloopers and outtakes from the production set.

• Back in the Booth with Trent and Jay – (HD) These are additional hockey commentary scenes that fit in with the deleted and extended scenes mentioned above. I found the hockey commentaries, within the actual movie, to be very dry and pointless so this extra is wasted on me.

• Theatrical Trailer – (HD) The film’s 2-minute theatrical trailer can be found here.

Final Thoughts

While The Love Guru is never going to win any critical praise or awards, not even an honorable mention one, the final decision of whether this is a good film or not rests solely upon its viewing audience. As I stated before, you are either really going to be fond of this comedic dry-but-warm story or you are going to flat out venomously hate it. If you are a fan of the Austin Powers trilogy of movies and Mike Myers dry comedy, then I would say that you would be prone to like The Love Guru, although I am not guaranteeing that statement. I simply have many reservations about this movie despite still liking it. Unless you have seen the theatrical release and know you like it, then I would highly encourage a rental of this movie before laying down your hard earned Benjamin’s on a blind purchase. If you are a fan of Jessica Alba in 1080P, then I would say this is a must-have but do be warned. She does not don any skimpy outfits like usual. I remember reading that she was near three months pregnant upon shooting this production. Nevertheless, she still glows in her scenes within the brilliant video transfer. The film has a very warm comedic ending that puts it right up there in the ranks of The 40-Year-Old Virgin in terms of uplifting/happy endings. That payoff alone makes it very worthwhile for me when trying to escape yet another stressful day in real life.