Holy Man

(Buena Vista)

The premise of Eddie Murphy as a televangelist engaged to hock goods on a cable shopping channel would seem like a pretty good bet, but Stephen Herek's film saddles its star with a leaden, melodramatic script that never allows the high jinks to get rolling at Murphy's hyperkinetic pace. His G is a mysterious spiritual pilgrim who's plucked from the streets of Miami by Jeff Goldblum's shopping-network producer; sure enough, G becomes an overnight sensation, while Goldblum learns his life lessons as he falls in love with Kelly Preston. It's all as insincere and perfunctory as the junk Goldblum's pushing.