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Holy Man Movie Review
Holy Man Review

"Holy Man" Overview

Rating: PG
1998
Cast and Crew
Director : Stephen HerekProducer : Roger Birnbaum,Stephen Herek
Screenwiter : Tom Schulman
Starring : Eddie Murphy,Jeff Goldblum,Kelly Preston,Robert Loggia,Jon Cryer
Pop quiz. You’re Eddie Murphy, a popular comedian who makes about a decade of
bad movies. You then do a remake of a Jerry Lewis classic and you’re back in
the swing of things. People start to like you again. Why would you do Holy
Man?
In this awful, Saturday Night Live sketch gone bad, Jeff Goldblum stars in a
thankless role as an infomercial executive who needs to find good product or he’
ll be fired. He stumbles upon G (Murphy), a mysterious man in a white sheet
who speaks eloquently about…. uh….stuff. Goldblum has the inevitable romance
with co-worker Kelly Preston, who are about as compatible as Catherine
Zeta-Jones and Walter Mathau.
Goldblum needs to find better work than this. He is a talented, charismatic
actor who has brought charm to many pictures, but not this one. As for Murphy,
I don’t know what attracted him to this role in the first place. Holy Man is
short on jokes, and the ones that it has aren’t that good. When you see Holy
Man in your video store, just keep walking.
Faux pas of the year.
Reviewer: Matt Lawrence
I felt very nice watching "Holy Man". I could feel all who has performed had
done it from their heart. The message was clear and straight "LOVE". According
to me making movies which can touch some ones soul is very difficult. The
message in the movie was eternal and not momentary.
According to me the message in the movie was not to expect a miracle man in
your life but you yourself is a miracle man. Where if you start loving
everything and everyone around you. You can do miracles.
Thanks for the all those who made this available and in this jenture would like
to predict that the message from the movie is one of the revalation to all
those who seek GOD.
While there's definitely truth in (most of) Mr. Lawrence's criticisms, I wholly
disagree with his final say.
Starting with the character of G - "a mysterious man in a white sheet who
speaks eloquently about...uh...stuff" - everything from his initial appearance
to the final shot speaks from a deeply satisfied and spiritual place. And does
so in such a way that is very rare in movies these days. From an acting
perspective only one moment toward the end stands out as disingenuous, but
every other line and expression is delivered with sincerity and, for me,
inspiration.
"Ricky Haymen" is classic Jeff Goldblum (a long-time favorite of mine for his
unique character), and worth watching just for the way he contrasts his
neuroses with G's suave demeanor. The romance between Haymen and Newell (Kelly
Preston) is as believable as any I've seen. And though I agree it seems to have
required considerable acting both their parts, the path from near-rivals to
lovers is one of my favorites to this day.
All in all there may be imperfections, but the approaches Holy Man takes to
themes like romance, rivalry, materialism and wisdom (as a spiritual and
practical quality) are delivered such that they completely leave out the
bitterness and cynicism which pervasively assault us in most movies. Its
innocence and curbed edges may indeed be boring to some, but for me it's one of
the few movies I can truly relax and enjoy.
What would G do?
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