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'Preacher's Wife': A Wan Sermon

In "The Preacher's Wife," an angel in the form of Denzel Washington comes to Earth to give strength and support to an embattled church pastor. Maybe the film could have used some heavenly intervention as well.

It's not a bad movie. In fact, in this remake of the 1947 "The Bishop's Wife," director Penny Marshall manages to paint one of the more realistic recent portraits of African American working-class communities. She avoids the hyper-reality of nihilistic thugs that so many directors use as a sort of ready-made kit for constructing scenes of black life. It was shot in Northeastern cities like Buffalo, Jersey City, N.J., and Paterson, N.J., with big, old, turn-of-the-century houses and churches. One century later, though, the buildings--a bit too conspicuously marked by graffiti in the film--are deteriorating. The scenery, what cinema types call the mise en sceĽne, contributes mightily to this story of a community striving amid the ruins, people fighting an overwhelming tide to maintain what they have.

As Christmas approaches, things are breaking down in the community where the Rev. Henry Biggs (Courtney Vance), his wife, Julia (Whitney Houston), and son Jeremiah (Justin Pierre Edmund) live. In Biggs's church, there are cracks in the walls and the boiler is about to blow. Young men in the neighborhood are being carted off to jail and foster homes.

With this milieu established so well, the story still founders. It's not that it tries to tell too many stories at once but that the stories seem predictable and disjointed. The script and directing fail to draw us close enough to the main characters so that they appear more than cutouts. Even the immensely talented Washington has to pour on a little extra charm in the role of Dudley to be more than just a bright-faced Ken doll.

The other problem is Houston. Though obviously selected for her drawing power and singing talent, she has so far proven herself unable to carry a starring role in any film that requires us to sympathize with her. Her unemotional diva mask, stiffness and dated look (especially tired wigs) make her an odd romantic heroine. She is like a walking stop sign in the course of the plot.

Vance somehow transcends the script and is a likable preacher. And, by far, the best scenes in the movie are those with children. Jenifer Lewis, who actually looks better than Houston in the film, steals most of her scenes as Julia's sage and sassy mother, a widow of a minister who now puffs on the occasional cigarette.

There are many good reasons for going to see "The Preacher's Wife." Just don't go looking for a blessing.

THE PREACHER'S WIFE (PG) -- Contains nothing objectionable. Area theaters.