Holy Man film review

certificate_PG

HOLY MAN

Smooth-talking TV executive Ricky Hayman (Jeff Goldblum) has been given 48 hours to turn things round at his ailing cable shopping network, or clear his desk. And after a chance, roadside encounter with an apparently wacko pedestrian calling himself G (Eddie Murphy) - the mysterious, wandering holy man of the title - Hayman attempts to manipulate his infectious, life-enhancing presence as a ratings winner.

Goldblum easily slides into the role of the charmer at desperation point, and as the tale unfolds it's ultimately about Ricky and his redemption to the higher stations of the human soul, rather than the fortunes of the Good Buy Shopping Network. Kelly Preston is a delightful counterpart to the picture's romance as media analyst Kate Newell, and Robert Loggia co-stars as the GBSN's fearsome boss Mr McBainbridge, but it's Murphy's terrific performance that's at the heart of this movie's success.

Although G's unorthodox tactics provide much of the comedy, Murphy is funny without squashing a sweet, modern-day fable that develops with some flashes of Capra, a thoroughly feel-good message and just a bit more subtlety than you might have thought possible.