The Preacher's Wife (1996)

A romantic gospel drama with twists of humour and fantasy. I already reviewed the gospel soundtrack so now it's time for the movie itself. I watched this movie only for the first time a couple of days ago and I grew to love it for more than I expected. This movie also seems to represent the genre of Christmas movies which is just fine because when I'm writing this Christmas is already knocking on the door. The angel Dudley potrayed by Denzel Washington is bringing some magic into this movie by his miraculous touch and this is just peculiar for the Christmas movies. You could crystallize the story line into one sentence because it's so simple: Angel Dudley dropped out of heaven to save the family life of the pastor Biggs family. No matter the season, I think you could watch this any time of the year especially if you're a gospel or R&B listener or simply a Whitney Houston fan. I personally find that this movie might appeal stronger to women than men but I also think that this is ideal to watch with the whole family.

It's cheesy but charming. When comparing this to those previous gospel/R&B movies that I've seen I have to say that I was positively surprised on how absorbing The Preacher's Wife could be. I was completely enchanted by the first hour but by the second hour of the movie I felt a bit bored because it started seeming like a flavorless romantic pap. Well, actually, I was surprised also by the second hour because this humour worked on me and I laughed which happens quite rarely to me when watching a film which is a plus. I predict though that this could as well come out as the magic of the first view which means that when watching this for the second time these may have become old cliché jokes that won't work on me twice.
Was it a predictable watching experience? Not as much as I thought it would be. I actually think that I laughed because I was surprised. Actually, I couldn't even predict the choices made by pastor Biggs portrayed by Bobby Brown or if I could I didn't give much thought for it because I just concentrated on enjoying the film. Also, it wasn't predictable what was to happen to the pastor's son in the end. Actually, by the end of the film I found myself thinking, They just don't film movies like this anymore. There's something so nostalgic and heartfelt about this warm movie. It makes me miss the 90s.

It's time to analyze the performances and this is when I especially want to compare this to Sister Act 2 and The Fighting Temptations. Whitney clearly does her acting job better than Beyoncé and Lauryn Hill in their gospel movies. All in all, music is an important part of The Preacher's Wife but from my point of view the script includes more acting than music.
Both Whitney and Bobby Brown managed to impress me with their skillful, charming, successful acting performances. You see, in the previous gospel movies that I saw actual singers failed their acting more or less so this definitely is a plus as well. Whitney's mother Cissy Houston had just one line but she was eloquent. Loretta Devine does one of the most amusing performances in the movie as Beverly, the assistant of pastor Biggs. And of course, Denzel Washington does a charismatic and amusing performance as angel Dudley. I've got nothing negative to say on acting and the music performances were of course flawless and uplifting. I can't choose just one top moment because all music performances were so splendid.

Grade: 8/10. I could imagine starting a new Christmas tradition by watching The Preacher's Wife every Christmas. This movie is clearly more sophisticated and more thoughtfully made than Sister Act 2 and The Fighting Temptations. The music performances were of course flawless, captivating and uplifting. It's probably the best gospel that I've heard so far. It's musically on the same stunning level with The Fighting Temptations and so better than Sister Act 2. But when it comes to the acting performances it's on the same level with Sister Act 2 or even tops it due to that Whitney managed to prove that she truly could act! Even Bobby Brown proved that he could act beside singing and I actually think that he did it a bit better than Whitney. So, it seems that I actually should take my words back from the previous post and declare The Preacher's Wife the best gospel movie that I've seen due to successful acting and music performances. But I'm in a tough decision whether I should grand 9 out of 10 or just 8,5 just like for Sister Act 2? After all, this genre has become a cliché.