Review of Holy Man

Holy Man (1998)
8/10
Forget everything you know... it's not a comedy. And that's good!
28 March 2006
I must admit that I am at a loss. Who said that this film was "supposed to be a comedy?" And in some sense, who really cares, because who gets the right to determine any of that for us? Oh I get it. The previews, the trailers. Well, fortunately, I didn't see any of those. I was lucky enough to see the movie on cable, unannounced. I remember something about it back in the day when it came out, but I didn't pay it much attention. Just seeing it, unexpected, thinking in fact that I was ~not~ going to watch it because I was not in the mood for an Eddie Murphy comedy, but sticking with it because it was nothing of the sort. A nice feeling.

So, what about the movie? Well, it walks the line between movie and film. It's by no means a comedy. I can't think of any part of it that was a comedy movie. That's not to say it was depressing or anything. It was really great, I laughed at some parts, and felt a quiver at other parts. I think it's exactly the kind of "message" film that only someone like Eddie Murphy, with his seemingly limitless appeal, could bring to the big screen. It was a gamble, and it seems not to have paid off in the short term, but I think the film has staying power. I don't see any reason why this movie won't survive the test of time. I don't even particularly like Jeff Goldblum, but you see it wasn't a Jeff Goldblum movie either. In fact, when it was over, I was asking, "who made this film?" Who are these people? So now I'm going to sign off here and go look those people up. There's really something here.
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