The Guru

Amiable, boy-faced Indian actor Jimi Mistry (East is East) plays an enthusiastic immigrant with wide-eyed dreams of movie stardom. But through a series of screwball misunderstandings, he's soon being celebrated by Manhattan's trendy elite as "the Guru of Sex"--a spiritual healer who tells the people what they want to hear: nookie makes good therapy. His sexual philosophy comes from a goodhearted porno actress (Heather Graham) who, in one of those ham-fisted movie mix-ups that could be corrected with a single line of dialogue, thinks she's advising him on how to overcome performance anxiety and become an X-rated stud. Of course they start to fall in love, causing much dismay for Graham since she's engaged to a religious, muscle-bound lug who thinks she's a schoolteacher--and a virgin. Making fun of its own light comedy clichés (like its stop-the-wedding finale) might have added an extra layer of laughs to this movie--if it wasn't entirely dependent on those same clichés to drive its plot. Optional. [DVD extras include two audio commentaries (one by director Daisy von Scherler Mayer and writer Tracey Jackson; the other by costar Jimi Mistry), nine minutes of deleted scenes, a slideshow photo gallery, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a flawed but fun film.] (R. Blackwelder)