Shopping for Spirituality
Holy Man Good for a Few Cheap Laughs

If you think the premise of a spiritual guru hocking cheap junk on a home shopping channel is difficult to swallow, you can imagine how much trouble the makers of Holy Man had in creating a two-hour script to tell the story. While it is a humorous concept, it sounds like a joke -- and entertains only for as long as it would take to get to the punchline.

But Holy Man isn't about the spiritual wholesaler as much as it is about the man who created him. Despite the fact that Eddie Murphy (Dr. Dolittle) gets top billing and his picture on the movie poster, this story is about Ricky Hayman (Jeff Goldblum) and his journey of discovery.

Ricky is a typical television salesman trying to get ahead. His job is to recruit advertisers for the Good Buy Shopping Network (GBSN) and encourage them to sell their products on the air. Unfortunatly, sales have been slipping and the new boss is giving him one chance to prove himself. What Ricky lacks in self-confidence, though, he makes up for with a total lack of charm. He is arrogant, pushy, and completely unfriendly. Right off the bat, the audience is discouraged from liking him.

When Ricky and his new co-worker, Kate Newell (Kelly Preston), have a flat tire on the freeway, they are approached by a young spiritual pilgrim named simply "G." who offers to assist them. G. faints when Ricky nearly backs over him, and Ricky begrudgingly finds himself helping G. in order to impress Kate.

The story drags on before getting to the set up of the entire movie. It's 45 minutes before G. is even offered a position at the network as a spokesman. Even more elusive is any sound reasoning for offering G. the position. Whatever made Ricky think a man who renounces money and material wealth could sell useless garbage on television?

Hearing G.'s comments on the items he sells bring the first real laughs of the movie. While he can't sell mixing bowls, he does make some great observations about life while weilding a chainsaw. Several of the items sold are more satirical than serious, having all the realism of Saturday Night Live's classic "Bass-O-Matic." But I digress...

In the end, it is G.'s non-materialistic philosophy that is more compelling than the few cheap jokes at the expense of in-home shopping. In fact, the way Ricky and the rest of the network try to exploit G.'s popularity is more disturbing than funny. Ultimately, the audience identifies most closely with Kate, who begins to have a change of heart, than with Ricky or the enigmatic G., who -- for all his goodness -- seems oblivious to the deceit around him.

After seeing Goldblum play quirky good guys in films like Jurassic Park and Independence Day, it is difficult to accept him in this role as an anti-hero. He doesn't bring much realism to the part and lacks the desperation which must be driving Ricky. In truth, I think he does a better job in commercials for the iMac computer.

Murphy is wonderful, but under-utilized. If I had to guess, I'd say this is not a role for which he will be remembered. In his support, I will say that I enjoyed this more than his past couple of films (not counting his voice-over work in Mulan). Preston, likewise, is charming but forgettable. Her bright smile is reminiscent of Meg Ryan, but Kate lacks the depth of character a good actress creates in her role. Robert Loggia and John Cryer round out the cast of Holy Man, while several other celebrities appear as themselves on GBSN.

All in all, I have to give Holy Man a low rating. While it wasn't great, there were moments worth seeing. Each of G.'s speeches regarding life and materialism are wonderful. I'm not saying he's going to change the world, but those who see it might stop and think for a moment. Especially if they -- like me -- see it in the mall.

MY RATING: 3 out of 10.

RATED: PG
RUN TIME: 114 min.