The Preacher’s Wife

Rating

Director

Penny Marshall

Screenplay

Nat Mauldin (Novel: Robert Nathan)

Length

2h 3m

Starring

Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston, Courtney B. Vance, Gregory Hines, Jenifer Lewis, Loretta Devine, Justin Pierre Edmund, Lionel Richie, Paul Bates

MPAA Rating

PG

Review

The decision to remake films from Old Hollywood is often one met with a collective shrug and sigh from cineastes, but audiences seldom seem to notice. That’s the case with The Preacher’s Wife, a film that takes the classic black-and-white film The Bishop’s Wife and turns it into a glossier, minimally inspiring film.

The Preacher’s Wife modernizes that original tale and explores the desperation of a preacher (Courtney B. Vance) whose world is crumbling around him. His church is falling apart, his congregation is uninspired, and his matrimonial relationship is fraying. He’s on the verge of losing his faith when he prays for a miracle and is sent a protector in the form of an angel named Dudley (Denzel Washington).

Whitney Houston co-stars as the titular wife, a choir leader whose faith is stronger than her husband’s, but who can’t seem to get through to him no matter what she tries. As Dudley attempts to boost the preacher’s confidence and lead him towards a path that will bring him success, the preacher’s stubbornness and reluctance to change may keep him from finding his way.

As a director, Penny Marshall has an uneven history. While A League of Their Own is a brilliant film, expertly directed, The Preacher’s Wife is a generic picture with no style or panache. The film moves at a leaden pace and seemingly goes through the motions of a story all too familiar to the viewer. Further, when you have an actress with a voice like Houston’s, it’s no surprise that you want to fit in any chance you can to get her to sing, but the result is a chaotic hodge podge of unnecessary scenes that barely further the story and drop the audience out of the film for a short musical interlude.

Vance’s performance is the best of them all and Washington is affably excellent. Even Houston does a fine job, though there are several scenes where her reaction shots are mystifying or her emotions are too jubilant for the cause. There’s solid support, but when you’re in such a familiar story with familiar characters resolving familiar situations you can’t get too excited when the final result is exactly that, familiar.

The Preacher’s Wife is an admirable attempt to switch up a classic Hollywood story with a new background and racial composition than would have even been thought possible when the original was released in 1947. Additionally, when the character replacements aren’t half as compelling as the likes of Loretta Young, David Niven, Monty Woolley, James Gleason, Gladys Cooper, and Elsa Lanchester, the end result is an uneven one. Washington’s charisma are a match for Cary Grant’s and Vance isn’t a bad substitution for Niven, but Houston cannot hold a candle to Young; however, she was the biggest name on the marquee, so it’s no surprise she landed the role at a time when her Hollywood career seemed bright.

The stories are different enough between The Preacher’s Wife and The Bishop’s Wife that not all audiences will pick up on them, especially if they have never seen the original. That said, it’s impossible not to compare and the comparisons only make this version feel inadequate.

Review Written

May 17, 2021