When home shopping network executive Ricky Hayman (Goldblum) and his associate Kate Newell (Preston) nearly run over the mysterious "G" (Murphy) on the highway, they feel guilty enough to take him to a hospital and pay for his medical care. However, the next day "G" shows up at the Good Buy Shopping Network and promptly positions himself in front of a live camera where he makes a strong connection with the viewing audience. The only problem? He’s not trying to sell their merchandise! This surprising movie is not in the traditional goofy Eddy Murphy style – it’s nothing like The Nutty Professor or Dr. Doolittle. Holy Man is instead a surprisingly emotional tale of morals and values, in step with The Truman Show, but this time dealing with the high stakes world of… home shopping.
Disney may not see the need to use anamorphic enhancement on their DVDs, but that doesn’t mean they can’t produce a good transfer – as is the case here. Although slightly dark and muted, the 2.35:1 widescreen presentation is smooth without any visible grain, artifacts or aliasing. Black levels are well calibrated and the original master is very clean resulting in a quality transfer. The disc features 23 chapter stops and is contained on a single layer.
Audio quality is excellent with absolutely no background noise. Dynamic range on all 6 channels is wide with good use of surround channels despite any real requirement for them. The vocal mix is softer than I would have preferred, but it doesn’t become too difficult to make out over music. The disc contains one language, English, for both audio, subtitles and closed captioning.
Extras are practically non-existent: you’ll only find scene selection screens and a few box covers. No theatrical trailer, featurette or production notes are included. While the movie is worth watching and the transfer is acceptable, the lack of extra features make this $30 disc a hard sell.
- Reviewed by Daniel Tonks on June 19, 1999.
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System Equipment
Sony DVP-S500D DVD Player
Sony STR-GA8ES 5.1 Receiver
Sony KV-27V65 27" Television using S-Video
Nuance Spatial & Star Series Speakers
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