Holy Man (1998)

Lazy, but spiritual comedy/drama with Eddie Murphy, Jeff Goldblum and Kelly Preston A mysterious saintly man named G (Eddie Murphy) befriends the director of a failing shopping network (Jeff Goldblum) & his colleague (Kelly Preston) in Miami. He becomes a curious sensation on the network. “Holy Man” (1998) combines elements of “Michael” (1996) and “City of Angels” (1998) to forge its own hybrid and is the obvious precursor to “Bruce Almighty” (2003). It failed at the box office mainly because people thought it was going to be a typical Eddie Murphy vehicle, but it’s not. Sure, there’s some comedy, but it’s decidedly low-key with maybe 2-3 laugh-out-loud parts. It’s more of an amusing drama crossed with spiritual docudrama and the unique tone turned people off. While it’s the least of those three other films, it possesses its own appeal once you catch a grip. The movie seems overlong though and needed tightened up with a rewrite. Still, it has its points of interest. Murphy, for instance, is thoroughly convincing in the title role and his character is certainly intriguing (I think it’s obvious who he really is), not to mention the flick conveys several valuable insights. The film runs 1 hour, 54 minutes and was shot in Miami, Florida. GRADE: C+/B-