'The Love Guru' (PG-13)(out of four)

It's been six years since the last Austin Powers comedy and five since Mike Myers starred in a live action film ("The Cat in the Hat") -- can he still deliver the goods with his heavily hyped return in "The Love Guru"?

If you like a lot of crude jokes, yes; otherwise, you may be a little disappointed.

Myers plays Guru Pitka, a spiritual adviser born in the U.S. and raised in India who greets his followers with those traditional Indian words: "Mariska Hargitay" (which of course leads to the inevitable but very funny cameo by the "Law and Order: SVU" actress).

Guru Pitka does have somewhat of a Hollywood following (look out for star cameos) but he's frustrated at always being No. 2 on the celebrity enlightenment lists behind the more popular Deepak Chopra.

He gets a chance for both a big payday and a coveted guest spot on " The Oprah Winfrey Show" if he can just solve the marital problems of hockey player Darren Roanoke (Romany Malco from "The 40-Year-Old Virgin"). The play of the Toronto Maple Leafs star has fallen apart since he broke up with his wife and it's only gotten worse since she took up with a hated rival, Jacques "Le Coq" Grande (hilariously played by a very effective Justin Timberlake), the famously well-endowed goaltender of the Los Angeles Kings.

Myers is a Toronto native and a huge hockey fan, so it's no surprise that the action here is centered around his beloved Maple Leafs. There are a lot of subtle references that only longtime hockey fans will pick up on. The owner of the team is played by the lovely Jessica Alba, who plays Jane Bullard -- the daughter of the club's late, despised owner (the Leafs were owned for years by Harold Ballard, the George Steinbrenner of hockey).

To play the team's foul-mouthed coach, Punch Cherkov (a nod to former legendary Leaf's coach, Punch Imlach), Myers brought back Verne "Mini-Me" Troyer (stick around for the first part of the end credits for a very funny outtake with Troyer).

The focus of the film switches between Guru Pitka working with the hockey star, to the Guru's growing attraction with the romantically challenged team owner, to flashbacks of his childhood in India and studying with his teacher, Guru Tugginmypuddha. The senior guru is played by famed actor Ben Kingsley, who demonstrates that even an Oscar-winner is capable of doing scenes cross-eyed.

While the film has some very funny moments, "The Love Guru" stumbles on its frequent reliance on gross-out humor. One scene has two men doing battle by swinging mops that were dunked in pails of urine. In another scene, hair with a booger attached is found in a cup of tea. Ugh.

Myers co-wrote the script with Graham Gordy, a playwright whose previous big-screen credit was the film "War Eagle, Arkansas." The director is equally as obscure: Marco Schnabel did second unit work on the "Austin Powers" films for the talented Jay Roach.

Perhaps Myers needed more established collaborators who were willing to stand up and say, "This is isn't working." What made the "Wayne's World" and "Austin Powers" films so entertaining is that there was a great balance of low-brow and insightful humor.

"The Love Guru" is aimed more at the whoopee-cushion crowd.