Holy Man (1998)

Eddie Murphy stars as an over-the-top television evangelist who finds a way to turn television home shopping into a religious experience, and takes America by storm.

Director:

Stephen Herek

Writer:

Tom Schulman

Stars:

Eddie Murphy, Jeff Goldblum, Kelly Preston

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Eddie Murphy	...	G
Jeff Goldblum	...	Ricky Hayman
Kelly Preston	...	Kate Newell
Robert Loggia	...	McBainbridge
Jon Cryer	...	Barry
Eric McCormack	...	Scott Hawkes
Sam Kitchin	...	Director
Robert Small	...	Assistant Director
Marc Macaulay	...	Cameraman / Brutus
Mary Stout	...	Laundry Lady #1
Edie McClurg	...	Laundry Lady #2
Kim Staunton	...	Grace
Morgan Fairchild	...	Herself
Betty White	...	Herself
Florence Henderson	...	Herself

Storyline

Ricky Hayman, right hand of Good Buy Shopping Network's owner John McBainbridge, is responsible for over two years of very bad sales numbers. He gets a last chance. Accidentally, he and Kate Newell nearly run over G with his car and decide to take him with them. What they never could guess was that G really is the one good man around. Being on the search for enlightenment, G offers his help generously to save Ricky's job. His natural, uncontrollable behaviour soon gets Ricky into really big trouble, but the sales numbers now go up for the first time in months...

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Plot Keywords:

corporate ladder | media coverage | mystery individual | bulletproof vest | savior | 

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Taglines:

The Comedy Where Nothing's Sacred!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 October 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

El tele-gurú

Filming Locations:

Miami, Florida, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£246,129 (UK) (19 February 1999)

Gross:

£434,829 (UK) (26 February 1999)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Caravan Pictures, Eddie Murphy Productions, Roger Birnbaum Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the scene where G encourages people to give Ricky a hug or a compliment, one of the control room guys gets up and hugs Ricky. He then compliments him on being 'really tall'. Jeff Goldblum who plays Ricky had previously starred in the movie The Tall Guy.

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Quotes

McBainbridge: I'm giving you two weeks to get things moving or you're history.
Ricky Hayman: Wait a second. First of all, two weeks? You gotta give me a little more time than that.
McBainbridge: Hold it! Hold it right there! Right there. Every day on the way to work, I pass a dozen guys carrying signs: "Homeless family will work for food" pathetic vet, god bless him. There's nothing I can do about them. The ACLU says they have a perfect right to stand there, so fine, let them stand there. But here, in my office, in my own goddamned ...
[...]

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Connections

References Wishmaster (1997)

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Soundtracks

"Sparkling Brass"
Written and Performed by Malcolm Lockyer
Courtesy of Zomba Music Services

User Reviews

Not Bad

Love the idea of a mysterious, intelligent, well-intentioned man captivating millions of people. Wouldn't it be funny if some obscure shop-at-home channel managed to pull something like this off? Well this seems like a pretty original scenario, and I give it some credit for that. Murphy plays the part of G quite well. One of the few great comedies he's done in the recent past. I love the beginning and ending scenes in which G is walking along the side of the road. It's just some beautiful scenery. When I see it, I wish I'm there. The music in this movie is really enjoyable too. Good to see Ducky in the studio. Really couldn't have cared less about the little relationship that developed. Funny movie. Worth a view or two. I would love to see a sequel.