Holy Man

Great friends told me this weekend that I had to see HOLY MAN. They were surprised that I had never seen Eddie Murphy's 1998 comedy. To be fair, very few people did when it hit theaters, selling $12 million in tickets against a $60 million budget.

I really enjoy Eddie and I'm convinced that Jeff Goldblum can elevate ANY movie, so we loaded it up and watched it this holiday weekend.

What a pleasant surprise.

HOLY MAN is sweet, funny and if you give into its story, moving.

The reliably high energy Goldblum stars as QVC-like Good Buy Home Shopping Network executive Ricky Hayman, who seems to be pretty bad at his job. The ratings and the cash register at the network are sinking faster than "Beverly Hills Cop III" at the box office.

His loud, raging boss McBainbridge is fed up with the lack of results and has hired consultant Kate (Kelly Preston) to come in and work with Ricky. It's hate at first sight between the two. By the way, if you're going to cast a loud, raging boss, you can't do better than Robert Loggia (Prizzi's Honor, S.O.B.) who more than delivers as the Boss from Hell.

Heading to a meeting in Ricky's sports car, Kate and Ricky have a blowout.

As they change the tire, they meet a friendly man in a white robe named G. Eddie Murphy plays G with a fascinating blend of styles. Innocent, quick witted, patient and wise, G is a dollar store version of Peter Sellers Chance in "Being There".

But G's words of advice, unlike Chance's, aren't misinterpreted.

He seems to see through people and deliver just the WRONG or right words at the right time. Some lessons take longer than others.

Through a series of events, contrived but funny, Murphy's inspirational guru ends up in Ricky and Katie's lives like a guest that won't leave.

Writer Tom Schulman (Dead Poets Society, What About Bob?) squeezes in plenty of satire and romance along with the laughs.

Setting the story in the world of a fast paced TV studio that pops 24/7 from one set and product to another, serves up plenty of opportunities for humor.

Everyone from Florence Henderson, James Brown, Soupy Sales and Dan Marino show up to sell their goods. Betty White is hilarious and Morgan Fairchild is even funnier playing it straight.

G ends up on TV and the world falls in love with him.

The last half of the film is predictable at a surface level, but Goldblum and Murphy, and occasionally Preston, nail the delivery so often that it feels unexpectedly fresh.

The glaring weakness of the film is that there is so little chemistry between Goldblum and Preston. The story wants us to see how much they want each other, but there are zero sparks on screen. Goldblum's character seems a lot more developed than Preston's Kate. Her purpose in the tale seems to wander and shift throughout.

This is the Eddie that we would see much more of in later dramatic roles like James Early in "Dreamgirls", but the serious side was brand new for fans. While I think he's got some terrific moments, Murphy himself hated the film and his performance, calling it "horrendous". His fans clearly agreed based on the box office, but seeing it nearly three decades later, it lands very well. There's a sincerity and kindness in G that feels pretty rare these days.

I think they missed a golden opportunity in the last scene of the film to not have G slowly disappear like a wisp of smoke. See if you agree. I was so sure it was going to happen, but it simply faded to black as the end credits rolled.

What or who is G?

It's an enjoyable, funny and mysterious quest to find that answer.

While I may not have been satisfied with a conclusion, I enjoyed the hell out of the journey.

G's entire speech about 75 years landed squarely in my heart in a way it wouldn't have 30 years ago. Like most of G's simple but elegant sayings, the closer you listen, the more you hear.

HOLY MAN gets a surprising B.