Holy Man (1998) - Eddie Murphy, Jeff Goldblum, Kelly Preston
The poster for "Holy Man" shows a serene, Zen-like Eddie Murphy sitting atop a giant bar code. The movie is a lot like the poster - gentle, soft-spoken and nowhere near as funny as you might hope. But behind this simple packaging lies a subtle film that's not perfect, but still a better entertainment value than most.
Jeff Goldblum stars as Ricky Hayman, an executive for a home-shopping network. His life isn't quite perfect - his tailored suits can't quite hold his work-induced ulcer, and his sportscar is about to be repossessed. The whole network is on the verge of going under, and media analyst Kate Newell (Kelly Preston) is brought in as their last resort.
On their way to a meeting, Ricky and Kate run into G (Murphy), a wandering holy man on a spiritual pilgrimage. Literally. With the sportscar. In an uncharacteristic show of guilt, Ricky invites G to stay in his apartment while G waits for the doctor's OK to continue his quest.
A few nonsensical contrivances later, G is an on-air personality, mixing Deepak Chopra-ish sound bites with hawking bizarre products like the "Hood Buddy" (it cooks while you drive) and "L'il Squirt" (it goes in the toilet; use your imagination). "Spirituality on a home shopping network?" execs cry, but sales are up - way up.
Murphy is remarkably subdued in "Holy Man," and it's both appropriate and successful. His famous laugh is absent, as is his traditional scene-stealing. He's finally learned the valuable lesson that he doesn't have to constantly be the center of attention to turn in a memorable performance.
Unfortunately, Goldblum and Preston seem to still think of him as "the" star. They turn in adequate, but not stellar, performances. Playing off his normal status as center of attention, they rarely allow their acting talents to shine. In addition, the producers' apparent need to put Preston in unnecessarily tight clothes merely because she is the female lead had to be distracting at some point.
Their characters' romance seems forced, as they have remarkable little chemistry with each other. The presence of Murphy can cover a lot of flaws, though; everyone who interacts with G seems just a bit more relaxed. If only there were more of him in this film.
Throughout "Holy Man" the humor is subtle and dry, and all too often whitewashed to near invisibility by the preachy anti-consumerism message. Even infomercial stars like Morgan Fairchild have trouble selling this movie, but you shouldn't have much trouble renting it.
...dave
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