Holy Man Blu-ray offers solid video and audio, but overall it's a mediocre Blu-ray release
Ricky Hayman, right hand of Good Buy Shopping Network's owner John McBainbridge, is responsible for over two years of very bad sales numbers. He gets a last chance. Accidentally, he and Kate Newell nearly run over G with his car and decide to take him with them. What they never could guess was that G really is the one good man around. Being on the search for enlightenment, G offers his help generously to save Ricky's job.
Philosophy, a higher state of consciousness, and nonstop shopping!
There's a fine character in Holy Man, and where there's a fine character, there's the opportunity for an equally fine film. Indeed, there's a
quality picture somewhere inside, but Director Stephen Herek's (Mr. Holland's Opus ) Holy Man never quite brings it fully to fruition.
Here's the
tale of a wandering soul who literally, it seems, walks the Earth with the purpose of helping people along the way. He's wise beyond most anyone's
lifetime of accumulated wisdom. He's gentle, insightful, highly aware, and gifted with the ability to touch people deeply and gently steer them
towards a
better state of living. All of which, of course, make him the perfect pitch man. Holy Man strives to combine philosophy with humor and
home shopping. It efforts
to work in some heavy themes and dark drama and even a romance as integral elements. It's one of those classic "all-in" sort of movies that efforts
to cram as much
material as possible into the story. The result are several strong premises and quality ideas that don't quite receive the breathing room they
deserve,
nor do they gel all that well into a singular, cohesive, palatable entity. Indeed, Holy Man shows strokes of potential, but it's not exactly a
cinematic god amongst its celluloid peers.
This beautiful, fit-for-framing portrait of Jeff Golblum receives my full endorsement. I've got two in my own home!
Sales at the Good Buy Shopping Network are on the decline, and someone's got to take the blame. Head honcho Mr. McBainbridge (Robert Loggia) is
out for blood: both sacrificial blood and new blood. He finds the former in rock-bottom sales executive Ricky Hayman (Jeff Goldblum) and the latter
in Ivy Leaguer Kate Newell (Kelly Preston). Ricky's got just weeks to turn things around, or he's toast. A flat tire stops the newly-paired Ricky and
Kate on a busy freeway, but as their luck would have it -- or is it fate? -- they encounter a wandering soul who goes by the name of "G" (Eddie
Murphy). When G collapses and Ricky takes him to the hospital, he thinks he's done his good deed and seen the last of his flowing robe-wearing new
friend.
But G isn't done with Ricky -- not by a long shot. G shows up at the shopping channel studio and inadvertently finds himself on the air. His
appearance is enough
to spike sales, and return engagements make G an instant celebrity thanks to his kindly ways and easily-accessible and grounded views on
philosophy and life harmony. Sales are on the rise, Ricky's job appears safe, and all seems well. But is stardom on the small screen the best thing
for G?
Ricky must choose between his career and the welfare of his new friend, choose between doing right by a good soul or securing his financial and
professional futures. Choose the former, and lose his job. Choose the latter, and lose the girl. Even if Ricky can't win, he has everything to gain.
Holy Man brings much to the table, but as it scatters angles and ideas, it leaves its audience equally scattered and wondering what a more
focused picture might have brought to the table. On the surface, the picture might rightly be defined through the faces that appear in it. The cast is
excellent, all of the players bringing a certain life and insight to the parts, though they're only as strong as the script allows them to be. Even
Murphy's
character
seems somewhat limited to expressing various page-a-day calendar-type thoughts. Still, his is good, sound life philosophy, and how he ties his life
experiences and thoughts into pitching product -- a door mat, a starfish-shaped necklace -- is at the very least clever. But none of the characters
really
exist beyond the stereotype. There's the evil bossman, the ruthless underling who will do anything to get the job, the man who changes from a
typical
character obsessed with money and job to someone who sees life in a different way, and the gentle and guiding love interest. And then, of course,
there's "G," a fine
character who, as noted, is more of a greeting card than a philosopher. The best part is that the movie, at least, largely leaves him a mystery. Is he
truly
just an evolved man, or is he something better, a wandering guardian angel of sorts who "happens" upon people in need? Murphy does play the
character wonderfully, expertly exuding the perpetual cheerfulness and demonstrating his heightened sense of awareness and insight and
understanding of the world around him. He's connected to the earth and sees right into the souls of all he encounters, and Murphy balances the
sense
of mystery with the uncanny kindness and greatly-enhanced mental and emotional abilities with a flair for both the comedic and the dramatic.
Additionally, Holy Man is slow out of the gate and never finds a pace thereafter. Audiences are greeted by that collection of
replacement-level characters and their unimaginative dilemmas and angles. It's easy to see where the movie is headed, even as it heads in several
different directions, attempting to incorporate humor, heart, dark themes, drama, and romance into the plot. The result is an overlong, scattered,
and yet underdeveloped hodgepodge of elements within a fairly loose binding that holds it all together well enough to maneuver on through to the
end but not to any point that the movie actually comes together into a single, workable whole. The movie is enjoyable in spurts, largely because
Murphy milks the character for all he's worth and then some, but he's predominantly covering for a mediocre script that just never does flesh the
character out to completion. The film aims to speak to the man-versus-money dilemma by creating juxtaposing stereotypes with a few characters
caught in the middle. On one side is the fire-breathing boss who's all about the bottom line in the bank and on the other the title character who's all
about the bottom line in a man's soul. Yet the first is too generic and the second is too underdeveloped, even as the most interesting and dynamic
character in the movie. Even as Holy Man works through
its various elements, none quite come to fruition with any kind of energy or honesty. It's a shame because Murphy's "G" is a wonderful character,
at least a wonderful foundation for a character, and he deserved a better fate than what is a fairly transparent movie with only a somewhat
thought-provoking ending propping it up.
Holy Man's Blu-ray transfer, like most of these in the recent Mill Creek wave, fares well, but it's not the kind of transfer that will turn heads. The
image is stable, clear, and fit. It suffers through a few soft corners, out-of-focus shots, light banding, and the occasional scene that appears a little
smoothed over, but generally this is an adequate high definition presentation. Details usually impress. Skin textures are easy to spot on Murphy's
shaved noggin, and the fine lines and seams and the texture of the material are all evident on Golblum's suit jackets. General detailing is fair; clarity and
sharpness are never much cause for concern beyond those few softer elements. Colors are stable, whether bright red outfits or bland, gray-colored office
furniture. Flesh tones are steady, and blacks are acceptably stable. Though not a front-line transfer, this one should please viewers, particularly
considering the price.
This is yet another in the most recent Mill Creek wave to feature a DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Holy Man's audio presentation features
a good, airy, open sense of space. Whether light, almost surreal music or the wide-open floorspace of the home shopping channel studio, listeners often
feel comfortably immersed into the film. Indeed, ambient background noise at the station satisfies, and music easily and clearly encircles the
soundstage. Chapters seven and eight see more dynamic and energized musical numbers, which are delivered crisply and fully. Dialogue can be a touch
hushed, but for the most part it's centered and easily understood. This track has its stretches of excitement, but this is primarily a somewhat reserved
and dialogue-intensive presentation. Yet no matter the challenge, Mill Creek's soundtrack handles all with relative ease and accuracy.
Holy Man is a hard sell, no pun intended. The movie's even harder to fathom, at least insofar as how such a good idea and strong character
could be reduced to a movie that's otherwise built around dramatic cliché and character stereotypes. Eddie Murphy gives it his all; he's charming and
convincing,
but he has little with which to work beyond his Hallmark quips. The remainder of the cast looks good on paper, but the performances are mostly as stale
as the script. All in all, a good effort with good moments, but Holy Man is too much of this and that and not enough of what it does well. Mill
Creek's Blu-ray release of Holy Man features solid video and audio. A standard-definition trailer is the only only extra included. The movie's not
bad enough to warrant a skip at this price, so fans and Blu-ray collectors: have at it.
