Look, it's bad enough for the career of Mike Myers that The Love Guru lost the weekend box-office battle to Steve Carell and Get Smart, but look at these numbers: Get Smart took in $39.1 million to Love Guru's $14 million. That's a beating, mister. What makes it worse for Myers is that Guru wasn't even a close second to Smart. Kung Fu Panda, the animated kids flick that won't die, took the No. 2 spot with $21.7 million, amassing $155.6 million in just three weeks. And No. 3 went to The Incredible Hulk with $21.6 million, repping a huge slip of 61percent from its debut. There is some solace there since Ang Lee's Hulk in 2003 dropped 70 percent in its second week. But face it Hulk fanboys, your giant green rage hero is on the wane. At least Guru beat The Happening, which plunged 67 percent to gross $10 million and take the No. 5 spot before hitting the fast track to DVD oblivion. Make no mistake, the story here is Mike Myers. Is the failure of The Love Guru merely a slip or a sign of dire things to come?
I'm betting on Myers. The guy is talented. Except for doing voices in the animated Shrek trilogy, Myers has been off screen for five years. And that movie was The Cat in the Hat, which sold tickets to kiddies, but pissed off everyone else, especially critics. Myers' fellow Canadian Jim Carrey had the same effect on me with How the Grinch Stole Christmas. But Carrey rallied with Bruce Almighty and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind before sinking again with The Number 23. What's to become of Myers? You can tell by the way he promoted The Love Guru—using the hardsell hammer on American Idol and the MTV Movie Awards—that he was pushing damaged goods.
And yet Myers has a talent that is unmistakble. You see it in Wayne's World, in Austin Powers and in his rare dramatic performance as disco casuality Steve Rubbel in the misbegotten 54. Mostly, you look at Myers on old SNL skits and see a gifted comic capable of so more than what he's doing.
What Myers needs is a kick in the ass from someone who knows what he's capable of and can push him to it. That someone, of course, is Myers himself. Will Myers take the next step, past a fourth and fifth Shrek, and save his career before audiences kick him under the bus? There is talk he will play Keith Moon in a biopic about the late Who drummer. Does Myers have the stuff to still surprise us? What are the Myers moments that deserve remembering? Discuss amongst yourselves.
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elin | September 14, 2009 2:20 PM
mike myers is cute cute cute
pompouskeepie John S****s | July 16, 2008 4:52 PM
Let's face it people- MOST independent films are overrated pretentious dreck (anyone remember/care about The Blair Witch Project now?), and overall are no more worthy on a percentage basis that the "big bad" studio films...
James Domanski | July 1, 2008 3:34 AM
what myers should do is make another waynes world. if done right would be a ton of fun
Anonymous | June 29, 2008 7:31 PM
The guy born to play Keith Moon is Jason Schwartzman...first of all the guy is a good drummer (used to be in Phantom Planet), he is a great actor and he even looks like Moon the Loon...
GS | June 29, 2008 1:31 PM
Myers has as many bombs in his resume as he has hits. So - is his career over? Probably not...
Calm down | June 26, 2008 11:19 PM
Whats the big deal? Yeah, he made a bomb. It's not that big an issue. But people forget that he is Mike Myers. He's a comedian from a sketch show. What else do you want him to do? People love writing people off. It actually excites people. I don't think you can put him in the same category as Eddie Murphy. Someone who has completley slapped his fans in the face with his lack of script choices. Myers at least wrote his own failure. Married an Ax Murder, 54, WW1, WW2, AP, AP2 were all good. 6/9 is still a pretty good batting average.
Guk | June 26, 2008 8:24 AM
Really.
A colonoscopy is more entertaining.
Doodad | June 25, 2008 1:33 PM
Mike Myers is about as funny as all the other pre snlers who went out on their own and tried to be funny.
They only had great comedic timing when they did not have control of scripts and other decisions in the filmaking proccess.
SNL seems to crank out a lot of childish actors and actresses, very few are exceptions to the rule, and even when they are an exception, their other character flaws destroy them anyway.
SNL is a proving ground for adults who want to act like children.
It always has been and it always will be.
Case in point, Chevy Chase whose wife left him because of his childish lifestyle.
Everyone is acting shocked at how bad the movies of Meyers and Sandler and others have become, however, if you buy into the childish potty humor of most of SNL, then they only expect moviegoers to accept any childish filth they throw at the American public.
poughkeepsiejohn | June 24, 2008 5:27 PM
You know, movies today are in the same predicament as they were in the early 1960's. The world was---and is---changing dramatically and Hollywood clearly isn't changing with it. They keep producing these big, lavish and expensive films that not only nobody wants to see but they could also bring the studios down with them. What Hollywood needs is a good kick in the ass. It needs young people who understand what is happening and not go for the cheap yuks. That's why it's always good to check out the independent films, the out-of-left-field movies because the best films are always the ones that take us by surprise.
Fat Bastard... | June 24, 2008 3:34 PM
Myers needs one person to help and it's not himself. It's Jay Roach. Stop crying. He will bounce back. You bunch of bandwagon bitchs.
adnapov | June 24, 2008 2:27 PM
I saw Mike Myers on Jon Stewart the other night, where he was painfully unfunny, and realized that he has morphed into Jerry Lewis.
Mojoryder | June 24, 2008 1:23 PM
"Lothar of the Hill People" should be his next movie project ...
Mike's career | June 24, 2008 12:38 PM
I evaporated in the 90's.
woody | June 24, 2008 8:10 AM
The Love Guru appears to be a cookie cutter movie. You can't just have a comedian in a movie and expect it to be funny. There has to be actual jokes. This movie is like Krusty the clown's big ear sketch from Tuesday night live. As he said, "oh boy, this goes on for another twenty minutes.Huh, huh!"
Enough said.
Mark | June 24, 2008 8:10 AM
So...if Mike Myers is gonna play Keith Moon...does that mean Adrian Brody is gonna play Pete Townsend? And who's gonna play Daltry? Sean Penn?
As a Who fan, the whole thing scares me a bit
Philbee | June 24, 2008 12:40 AM
Myers appears to have lost it a long time ago with The Spy Who Shagged Me with lowbrow poo and piss jokes and the even worse Mini-Me (which he brought back for Love Guru???). That is not inspired comedy like WW or the first AP. Plus the casting of Alba and Timberlake suggest he is too much in love Mtv/Maxim/Gen Y culture. This is a waste of great talent we are seeing just like Eddie Murphy and sometimes Adam Sandler.
Hitchcockrules! | June 23, 2008 10:09 PM
They should change the title of this movie to "The Curse of Jessica Alba"
Brandon | June 23, 2008 9:45 PM
When I heard he was going to play Keith Moon in the biopic, I thought it was the absolute perfect choice. Not only does he have the look and the energy, but it'll be a great vehicle to push him into a new direction, one I'd actually want to see. You never know when an actor might surprise you. But there's no doubt his brand of comedy is way off target right now.
JK | June 23, 2008 7:26 PM
Maybe if he gets his head straight. He's got the talent, but he's also an insufferable basket case in real life, and it's gonna take more than a kick in the ass.
jason | June 23, 2008 5:36 PM
myers is totally bouncing back. and let's not jump on the murphy hate wagon too quick. he was nominated for an oscar just two years ago, is the best thing in the shrek movies, and has proven to have more lives than a cat.
cory | June 23, 2008 4:32 PM
mike myers is junk.
d | June 23, 2008 3:28 PM
two words: eddie murphy
Otter29 | June 23, 2008 3:21 PM
No way Myers could pull off a Keith Moon role...
He'd have him speaking in a scottish accent
Julian | June 23, 2008 3:15 PM
I think Mike Meyers is very funny and very gifted as a comedian. I think either a GOOD turn to a dramatic role or him getting on board with another comedic talent that can bring something new and fresh along with Meyer's obvious talent. Maybe one of them Apatow-guys, or Apatow himself. He's got it in him, but maybe someone just needs to give him a small helping hand.
Movie Mike | June 23, 2008 3:02 PM
IMDB shows the Keith Moon thing is actually going forward. 2009 release date. This has potential...but how does 45 year old Myers play a young Moon? He was like 20 when he joined The Who. Great potential for a story though...read Moon's biography. Freakin' lunatic.
Other than that...I don't see Myers having much left in the tank. It's about 3 years too late for a 4th Austin Powers, and the Shreks will eventually run out of gas.
picklejuice | June 23, 2008 2:22 PM
Put a fork in him!
Jon G. | June 23, 2008 1:49 PM
I agree with Peter Travers, as I often have; Myers has been brilliant for most of his career. He's not the first to put out a stinker, and one good flick will set him right.
miles64 | June 23, 2008 1:42 PM
Why won't Peter review Kung Fu Panda? He reviewed dreck like The Love Guru.
MD | June 23, 2008 1:39 PM
Myers blows goats. I have proof.
destroyerofworlds | June 23, 2008 1:13 PM
myers sucks i have spoken