"Hawking Pseudo-Spirituality"
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What You Need To Know:
Though slickly produced, HOLY MAN quickly becomes a simple, stereotyped battle between the intangible world and materialistic world. Guess which wins out in the end? Director Stephen Herek made two MOVIEGUIDE award-winning movies in the past, MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS and 101 DALMATIONS. He has a keen eye for keeping movies at the PG level. Yet, because he has trumped up a New Age character, this movie cannot be considered family friendly. The movie's message seems to say, "If only we did such and such work, then we would be better people." Although "faith without works is dead," we know that only Jesus Christ and His cross redeems us to be forgiven and equipped to love one another as He has loved us
Content:
(NANANA, B, Pa, LL, V, N, A, D, MM) Strong New Age worldview where nondescript "holy man" uses moral platitudes to combat rampant consumerism; 7 obscenities & 3 profanities; man almost hit by car, man head-butts man, woman's face shocked in slapstick manner, & shooting; no sex but kissing; men & women in skimpy bathing suits & skinny dipping implied; alcohol use; smoking; and, miscellaneous immorality including deception, some scatological humor, man spits at other man, hypnotism, lying, people sit in Eastern yoga position for "meditation," & rampant materialism.
More Detail:
Riding the crest of pseudo-spiritual contemporary movies like PHENOMENON and WHAT DREAMS MAY COME, Eddie Murphy dons a pair of pajamas, spouts words of love and peace, and helps a failing salesman restore booming business in HOLY MAN. Though a novel idea and slickly produced, this movie falls into a very stereotypical plot and purports a godless, milquetoast spirituality.
Razor-tongued actor Jeff Goldblum plays Ricky, a salesman for a home shopping television network called Good Buy. Sales have been sinking, however, and he only has a few months to prove to the new boss, Mcbainbridge (Robert Loggia), that he can move more garbage-that-nobody-really-needs, or rather, product. On Good Buy, Dan Marino hawks a way to broil food on your car’s engine as you travel home from work, and Betty White pushes a new fragrance called CLAM!
McBainbridge assigns marketing specialist Kate (Kelly Preston) to help Ricky boost sales. As they drive down the road and brainstorm, they blow a tire and pull over. A strangely dressed man who calls himself only “G,” played by Eddie Murphy, walks through traffic to help. “G” tells them he is on a spiritual journey. Ricky doesn’t want his help. He thinks “G” is a nuisance, but, Kate is kind to him, and, when they almost back over “G” while pulling out, “G” faints from fear. Kate and Ricky take him to a hospital, where “G” is told he must lay low for a while until test results arrive. Ricky reluctantly offers to shelter “G” during his recovery.
The next day, “G” walks on to the set during a taping of a spot remover product. His charm, warmth and humor instantly boosts sales. Ricky sees dollar signs in his eyes and has “G” pitch products at Good Buy. “G” usually talks about how these products cannot satisfy your spiritual needs, but through clever editing, i.e., deception, Ricky is able to make it sound like “G” endorses the products. Ricky becomes even more greedy and has a co-worker fake a doctor’s notice stating that “G” must stay for another six months. “G” agrees to stay, but Kate knows that Ricky deceived “G” and breaks off their burgeoning romance. Ricky has a pang of conscience and makes matters right.
Although Murphy fans may come out to see this movie, it is difficult to see who the audience really is. Is it home shopping network watchers? Probably not. The movie mocks them. Is it the general moviegoer? Maybe, but this comedy is very narrow. Though slickly produced, and including added personality flavor with guest star appearances, the movie quickly becomes a simple, stereotyped battle between intangibles and materials. Guess which wins out in the end?
Director Stephen Herek made two MOVIEGUIDE award-winning movies in the past, MR. HOLLAND’S OPUS and 101 DALMATIONS. He has a keen eye for keeping movies at the PG level. Yet, because he has trumped up a New Age character, this movie cannot be considered family friendly. In the story, a Jew, a Muslim and a Catholic priest endorse “G.” He does say truths such as “We are all spiritual beings” and “Love one another,” but he also says things like “You never feel more whole when you are loving another person.” True spirituality, of course, is not about “feelings” or loving another person, but “knowing and loving God.” “G” helps strangers and says a very loud message that material goods cannot satisfy spiritual craving, but he also practices hypnosis and drinks odd drinks that are meant to “give peace.”
HOLY MAN is not one of Murphy’s best pieces of work. His comedy seems to be slowing down a bit, becoming more produced and less risky. However, the subject matter of this type of work is not unfamiliar to him. In the 1980s, he acted in a movie about a Buddhist boy called THE GOLDEN CHILD. Kelly Preston is the wife of well-known Scientologist John Travolta. Her participation in this movie seems to run in sync with Scientologist views of self-empowerment. The message seems to say, “If only we did such and such work, then we would be better people.” Although “faith without works is dead,” we know that only Jesus Christ and His cross redeems us to not only be better, but forgiven and equipped to love one another as He has loved us.
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