Mike Myers is a seeker of sequels: He went around the "Wayne's World" twice, then milked the day-glo "Austin Powers" cow to the point of emaciation. It's a safe bet many will like "The Love Guru." Sure, it's a lot like "Austin Powers 4," but the stale formula has been spiced up with tandoori.

Making fun of Indians has been taboo since Peter Sellers' role in 1968's "The Party," but Myers sidesteps offense by playing an American who has fashioned himself as an Eastern spiritual mentor to get women.

Myers' character, Guru Pitka, is sexually insecure. Though second only to Deepak Chopra as a giver of advice, a hidden chastity belt keeps him love-starved and juvenile.

Pitka is like SNL's self-helping Stuart Smalley stewed in the curry of Gallagher-style wordplay. He explains that "intimacy" means "into me I see," "nowhere" means "now here," and "guru" is a sort of acronym for "gee, you are you."

Myers, who wrote the script with Graham Gordy, excels at silly one-liners, and metes them out like a steady mantra.

In keeping with the theme of male sexual humiliation, Pitka is recruited to help Darren Roanoke (Romany Malco), "the Tiger Woods of hockey," regain his mojo after his wife leaves him for Jacques "Le Coq" Grande (Justin Timberlake), a dunderheaded Dirk Diggler with a fetish for Celine Dion. At least the romantic interest, played by Jessica Alba, gets to sing and sway in an all-too-brief Bollywood dream sequence. Alba brightens the screen without even trying, but like everyone else, she remains a foil to Myers.

Mostly, "The Love Guru" is an Eastern cupid who aims very low. Myers sticks with the types of gags that have worked before, asking little of his audience other than laughter in the face of offensiveness. It isn't enough that Pitka's mentor is named Guru Tugginmapuddah (played by Ben "Gandhi" Kingsley).

Added to the masala mix are numerous cameos. Not to give anything away, but one involves the nonsense Indian term "mariskahargitay." For fans of late-night political comedy, "The Daily Show's" John Oliver has a bit part, and the film often cuts away to Stephen Colbert playing a hockey announcer with a penchant for Too Much Information.

"The Love Guru" is short on visual gags and high on verbal humor. Even the "Austin Powers" films (which also play better on video) had the occasional extended sight gag involving image obstruction or misleading shadows. The film's saving grace is that in spite of itself, it's still often very funny, plucking out laughs like the notes of a sitar.

Much like transcendental meditation, "The Love Guru" works much better if you empty your mind.

"The Love Guru." Running time: 1 hour, 22 minutes. Rated: PG-13. 2 1/2 stars.

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