5.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
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.
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Jeff Goldblum, Kelly Preston, Robert Loggia, Jon CryerComedy | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English SDH
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Philosophy, a higher state of consciousness, and nonstop shopping!
There's a fine character in Holy Man, and where there's a fine character, there's the opportunity for an equally fine film. Indeed, there's a
quality picture somewhere inside, but Director Stephen Herek's (Mr. Holland's Opus ) Holy Man never quite brings it fully to fruition.
Here's the
tale of a wandering soul who literally, it seems, walks the Earth with the purpose of helping people along the way. He's wise beyond most anyone's
lifetime of accumulated wisdom. He's gentle, insightful, highly aware, and gifted with the ability to touch people deeply and gently steer them
towards a
better state of living. All of which, of course, make him the perfect pitch man. Holy Man strives to combine philosophy with humor and
home shopping. It efforts
to work in some heavy themes and dark drama and even a romance as integral elements. It's one of those classic "all-in" sort of movies that efforts
to cram as much
material as possible into the story. The result are several strong premises and quality ideas that don't quite receive the breathing room they
deserve,
nor do they gel all that well into a singular, cohesive, palatable entity. Indeed, Holy Man shows strokes of potential, but it's not exactly a
cinematic god amongst its celluloid peers.
This beautiful, fit-for-framing portrait of Jeff Golblum receives my full endorsement. I've got two in my own home!
Holy Man's Blu-ray transfer, like most of these in the recent Mill Creek wave, fares well, but it's not the kind of transfer that will turn heads. The image is stable, clear, and fit. It suffers through a few soft corners, out-of-focus shots, light banding, and the occasional scene that appears a little smoothed over, but generally this is an adequate high definition presentation. Details usually impress. Skin textures are easy to spot on Murphy's shaved noggin, and the fine lines and seams and the texture of the material are all evident on Golblum's suit jackets. General detailing is fair; clarity and sharpness are never much cause for concern beyond those few softer elements. Colors are stable, whether bright red outfits or bland, gray-colored office furniture. Flesh tones are steady, and blacks are acceptably stable. Though not a front-line transfer, this one should please viewers, particularly considering the price.
This is yet another in the most recent Mill Creek wave to feature a DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Holy Man's audio presentation features a good, airy, open sense of space. Whether light, almost surreal music or the wide-open floorspace of the home shopping channel studio, listeners often feel comfortably immersed into the film. Indeed, ambient background noise at the station satisfies, and music easily and clearly encircles the soundstage. Chapters seven and eight see more dynamic and energized musical numbers, which are delivered crisply and fully. Dialogue can be a touch hushed, but for the most part it's centered and easily understood. This track has its stretches of excitement, but this is primarily a somewhat reserved and dialogue-intensive presentation. Yet no matter the challenge, Mill Creek's soundtrack handles all with relative ease and accuracy.
This Blu-ray release of Holy Man contains only the film's trailer (480p, 1:58).
Holy Man is a hard sell, no pun intended. The movie's even harder to fathom, at least insofar as how such a good idea and strong character could be reduced to a movie that's otherwise built around dramatic cliché and character stereotypes. Eddie Murphy gives it his all; he's charming and convincing, but he has little with which to work beyond his Hallmark quips. The remainder of the cast looks good on paper, but the performances are mostly as stale as the script. All in all, a good effort with good moments, but Holy Man is too much of this and that and not enough of what it does well. Mill Creek's Blu-ray release of Holy Man features solid video and audio. A standard-definition trailer is the only only extra included. The movie's not bad enough to warrant a skip at this price, so fans and Blu-ray collectors: have at it.
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