There is no reason to be hard on this film. An overall rating of 5.2 is very low, in my opinion, and there is little to dislike about "The Preacher's Wife." It's a fairly simple story involving Dudley (Denzel Washington), an angel sent to earth to assist a pastor's marriage during Christmas time. One reason I liked this film is because few romantic comedies in recent years have been clean enough to watch with the entire family. There is almost nothing objectionable here, just a few brief, very mild swear words that have no bearing on the film. It's a decently funny film as well. I had to laugh at Dudley finding an image of a Windows computer screen in his angel handbook. The wisecracking grandmother was also a beneficial addition to the movie. Take her comment "We're gonna play Monopoly, with real money." There are still a few things that could have been improved on. The plot twist involving Dudley falling in love with Whitney Houston could have been played up more and was not nearly as funny as it had the potential to be. Also, the chemistry between the main couple is not super good, and the film lacks the romance necessary to make this a great rom-com. Nevertheless, it's enjoyable and doesn't deserve any harsh comments.Note: Because of the abundance of Christmas-related content, it's best to watch this around Christmas time, or you may feel slightly embarrassed.*** out of ****

Maybe I am one of the few people on this message board that actually liked this movie. I thought it was great. It was a charming story about the power of miracles and the fact that angels do really exist. (Of course, we wish they all looked like Denzel Washington, but they do exist!) This is my favorite type of a story because so many people these days forget about the miracles every day. I mean, here comes Dudley, an angel, from heaven sent to help out a family that was about to come apart. Maybe some people don't believe that is possible, but I certainly do. The performances were amazing and we get to hear Whitney Houston's beautiful voice. Give this movie a shot!

I just couldn't get into this film, a re-make of sorts of "The Bishop's Wife." The first hour was either annoying or just plain boring, and by then I didn't care what happened in the rest of the movie. Not much happened throughout this film, anyway.The angel in here, "Dudley" (Denzel Washington) said things no angel would say, such as "If you're up there, Lord, then.....""If???" He's an angel and he doesn't know if there is a God? Puh-leeze. What an insult to anyone's intelligence and beliefs. Only the secular film world have a dialog like this, where "Secular Humanism," not Christianity, is worshiped, as it is in this film. Whitney Houston looked good in here, the best I've ever seen her. Washington went around with a sappy look on his face through most of the film. I wonder if he was just embarrassed starring in a dumb movie like this.

Can you say love triangle? Except one of the parties is an angel. And he can't do anything about it. This is a touching story, one of my favorite Denzel Washington films. He plays an angel sent to help sort out a ministering couple and their church - and marriage - woes. But in the meanwhile, he falls in love with the preacher's wife (Whitney Houston). What follows is a feel-good story with just enough action to keep the story moving. My favorite part, however, was the vocal performance, and of course Whitney Houston shines. The odd thing was, I first heard of this movie because of the anthem they sang - it was released as an octavo, and our choir director got it for our sanctuary choir. That led me to check out the movie. It was well worth the effort. While films like "The Bodyguard" showcase Houston's pop talent, "The Preacher's Wife" gives us the privilege of a taste of her gift for sacred music. No wonder the angel fell in love. She has the beauty and talent to rank with the angels. The really cool part is you spend the whole movie wondering if he will act on that love or be a good angel and not interfere. In the meanwhile, he gets to help a lot of people. I strongly recommend this movie.