Viacom Inc.'s (NYSE: VIA) Paramount studios, which has scored big at the box office with "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and "Iron Man," and Time Warner Inc.'s (NYSE: TWX) Warner Bros, which is behind "Speed Racer," can't win them all. For example, take "The Love Guru" and "Get Smart," which open this weekend.Reviews for Paramount's "The Love Guru, which stars Mike Myers, are not just scathing, they are acidic. A.O. Scott of the New York Times said, "To say that the movie is not funny is merely to affirm the obvious... No, `The Love Guru' is downright antifunny, an experience that makes you wonder if you will ever laugh again." At the Los Angeles Times, Jan Stewart argued that the movie was filled with "low blows and elephantine misfires." Mike LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle is slightly kinder saying, "There are whole sections when watching the movie is like being locked in the mind of a 10-year-old boy."
Critics weren't much kinder to Warner Bros.' "Get Smart," a remake of the popular TV comedy from the 1960s. Newsweek's David Ansen dismissed it as distressingly generic, comments echoed by Claudia Puig of USA Today. To be sure, the movie has its fans, including Roger Ebert, who said Steve Carrell makes an "infectious Maxwell Smart."
Are people tired of Myers' shtick? That's tough to say. His appearance as "The Love Guru" on the "American Idol" finale bombed. Myers' fellow "Saturday Night Live" alum Adam Sandler has made a career out of making movies that are Teflon-coated against critical barbs. Sandler's "You Don't Mess with the Zohan,",though, has gotten some kudos from critics including the New York Times' Scott. Still, the studio probably should have thought twice before giving its okay to the Myers project.
I also question why Time Warner's Warner Bros. gave the green light to "Get Smart." Most of today's moviegoers are too young to remember the classic TV series. I don't think that Get Smart will be as big of a bomb as "Cat Woman," which I sat through with a stunned preview audience, but it certainly won't set the world on fire either.
For media investors the lesson of these movies is simple: you can't always bank on hits. Hollywood, like baseball, is a game about failure. Even the smartest studios occasionally strike out.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-20-2008 @ 4:23PM
speculator said...
That is the movie business. The only companies with no box office disasters is Pixar.
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6-20-2008 @ 4:59PM
Gwen said...
Love Guru- This looks like the biggest POS EVER !
I am sick of Mike Myers- He needs to go away, he's a has been and no longer funny. At ALL.
Get Smart- I can't WAIT to see this ! It look hilarious and Steve Carrell is Perfect to play Maxwell Smart ! I kind of resent the statement of Mr. Berr, that I am "too young " to be interested or know the old tv show. FYI- I am 26 y.o. and have EVERY single ep. of the tv show on tape.
All of my friends want to see this. Every person I have talked to in public, younger folk than me too- Are all very excited about this film !!!
Also, Mr. Berr- There IS such a thing as DVD. And just to let you know, the series is selling like hotcakes on TimeLife.
Get Smart is HUGE, and NOT just for the over 40 crowd. And every time I have been the movies in the past few months (about 20 or so times) every audience has laughed hysterically at the trailer, for Love Guru, not a peep. All these had young audiences in them.
Get Smart and see Carrell this weekend !!!!!!!!!!