Holy Man | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Stephen Herek |
Produced by |
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Written by | Tom Schulman |
Starring | |
Music by | Alan Silvestri |
Cinematography | Adrian Biddle |
Edited by | Trudy Ship |
Production
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Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures |
Release date
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Running time
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113 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $60 million |
Box office | $12.1 million |
Holy Man is a 1998 American comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Herek, written by Tom Schulman, and starring Eddie Murphy, Jeff Goldblum, Kelly Preston, Robert Loggia, Jon Cryer, and Eric McCormack. The film was a critical and commercial failure.
Ricky Hayman and Kate Newell work at the (fictional) Good Buy Shopping Network, a home shopping channel run by John McBainbridge. Sales have been down over the last two years under Ricky's management, and Kate was brought in to come up with new ideas. Ricky views Kate as a threat and she expresses her dislike for him as well. However, John has given Ricky an ultimatum to increase sales, or lose his job.
While out driving one day, Ricky and Kate come across a charismatic strange man who calls himself "G". G is unusual in that he wears white robes and is perpetually happy and smiling. He seems to sense how troubled Ricky is, and follows them back to the Good Buy studio. G wanders onto the set of an infomercial, and while he is on the air, the number of calls increases with customers wanting to buy something. Kate notices this and gets G his own spot on the network selling items. Meanwhile, the mutual dislike between Ricky and Kate has faded and they begin to express romantic interest in each other.
G's infomercials are mostly spontaneous anecdotes or thoughts about life, but customers connect with him and even the slowest-moving items begin selling out. While staying at Ricky's house, he enters a party of businessmen and displays his talents by making a Rolex watch "disappear" and curing another man of his fear of flying. Ricky begins marketing G's name on other items to increase sales. He wants to give G his own show, but the stressful work environment and throngs of fans who want to meet him begin to take its toll. G is no longer the happy, inspiring man he once was, and when Kate tries to convince John to let G leave the network, he refuses and she quits out of contempt. Ricky reaps the benefits of the increased sales, receiving a large promotion and a new office. However, the rewards seem hollow due to G's lethargy and Kate's rejection of him.