Preacher's Wife, The (1996)

reviewed by
Michael J. Legeros


                                THE PREACHER'S WIFE
                       A film review by Michael John Legeros
                        Copyright 1996 Michael John Legeros
(Touchstone)
Directed by     Penny Marshall
Written by      Nat Mauldin and Allan Scott based on a screenplay by
                Robert E. Sherwood and Leonardo Bercovici
Cast            Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston, Courtney B. Vance,
                Gregory Hines, Jenifer Lewis, Loretta Devine, Justin
                Pierre Edmund
MPAA Rating     "PG"
Running Time    124 minutes
Reviewed at     General Cinemas at Pleasant Valley, Raleigh, NC (8DEC96)
==

Another long sit. Director Penny Marshall's all-black, sometimes- musical remake of THE BISHOP'S WIFE-- the 1947 Best Picture nominee that starred Cary Grant as an angel who arrives on Earth to assist a man of the cloth-- is a good twenty minutes too long. Maybe thirty. The padding is obvious in the musical numbers, of which there are at least eight. (I lost count.) Most of the singing is done by Whitney Huston, whose character commands a church choir. (Her voice soars, but her acting doesn't. Neither she nor co-star Courtney B. Vance appear excited about anything in this romantic holiday comedy.) The forced fuzzies are also overkill. From foster homes to fidelity, every con- ceivable crisis is confronted and given a cheery resolution. The jokes are funny, thank good- ness, and there's a Microsoft gag midway through that's worth the price of admission. Even with a nice performance by Denzel Washington, who plays the visiting spirit, and some occasionally impressive supporting work, I still wanted to go home and strangle my Tickle Me Elmo.

    Grade: B-
--

Mike Legeros - Raleigh, NC, USA, Earth legeros@pagesz.net (h) - legeros@unx.sas.com (w) I'm also on the Web! http://www.pagesz.net/~legeros/


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