The Preacher's Wife (1996)

Because I have been a fan of The Bishop's Wife for so many years, I was never in a rush to check out this mid-'90s remake. I knew I would get around to it one day, Whitney Houston and Denzel Washington in main roles would see to that, but I never made it a priority. Until now. I wish I could say that I enjoyed it, but it pales in comparison to the original film, as well as not really doing good enough in simpler, Christmas movie, terms.

Courtney B. Vance is Reverend Henry Biggs, a man who is struggling with his role. He seems to be stuck in a bit of a rut, unable to truly inspire members of his congregation, and unable to figure out the best way to effectively help the community. He's also not been present in his marriage to Julia (Houston), a young woman who tries to support her husband at all times, and who provides the best singing voice in the church choir. Thankfully, an angel (Dudley, played by Denzel Washington) is sent down to help. Nobody really believes that he is an angel though, and everyone should forget all about him once his work is done. 

Written by Nat Mauldin and Allan Scott, reworking the source material from the Robert Nathan novel and the 1947 movie, The Preacher's Wife should work much better than it does. There are great people in central roles, including Gregory Hines, Jenifer Lewis, and Loretta Devine, and Penny Marshall is the talented director helming the thing. It actually does well, raising a smile here and there, when focusing on the character of Dudley, largely thanks to an absolutely charming performance from Washington helping to keep any negative thoughts at bay. It's also altogether easier to enjoy whenever Houston is lighting up the screen with her presence. Sadly, and somewhat paradoxically, it is dragged down by moments that feel obviously inserted into the plot to give screentime to Houston's singing talent. She has a great voice, no doubt about it, but the whole film screeches to a halt for a few different songs that could easily have been excised in service of much better pacing.

As horrible as it might seem, I could also have done without the horrible performance from the main child star in the cast, Justin Pierre Edmund. Playing Jeremiah Biggs, the son of Henry and Julia, Edmund is just overdoing everything in a film that works best when the cast are allowed to be relatively quiet. He's not alone, this is a film that feels very much like the professional adults were happily giving a chance to amateur youngsters. 

I could heap praise on both Washington and Houston all day long, and I'd kill to just once look as sharply-dressed as the former, but Vance also does really good work, despite the fact that he has the toughest of the three lead roles, as the harried man trying to balance his faith and love with harsh realities. Lewis does well with her role (playing the concerned mother of Houston's character), Devine is left with little to do, but she's someone I tend to enjoy in any role, and Hines has to be the main villain, but suffers from a rushed third act that delivers the expected ending without any of it feeling truly earned. There are also roles for Paul Bates and Lionel Ritchie, the former playing a kind-hearted soul pining for Devine's character and the latter playing, well, Lionel Ritchie.

Some people will be able to enjoy this more than I did, especially those just wanting to hear Whitney Houston sing some songs that aren't in the usual rotation of her many hits, but it's hard to view it as anything other than a huge disappointment. It's also (pleasantly) surprising that nobody has tried to remake it again recently. I wouldn't even mind if they gave Washington another chance in the role of the helpful angel.

4/10

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Lucky Bastard (2014)

Sex. It can make you do funny things. And sex is everywhere nowadays, especially on the internet. Don't ever make a typo that puts the word "porn" into your search bar because it's guaranteed to leave you wide-eyed and red-faced. Or, I guess, breathless and horny, of course.

Lucky Bastard is all about sex. Set in the world of porn, it's a found footage movie all about a young man, Dave (played by Jay Paulson), who finds that he's about to have his dream come true. Thanks to the titular website, Dave is going to get up close and very personal with gorgeous porn star Ashley Saint (Betsy Rue). But will he be able to perform when it comes to the main act, bearing in mind that he's being filmed for Lucky Bastard?

An interesting look at the dynamics of the porn industry, and independent movie-making in general, Lucky Bastard has a few more interesting insights than you might expect. It's just a shame that the movie, despite being good, never seems to move into top gear.

That may be due to the inevitability, and predictability, of the events as they unfold, or it may point to a need for some sharper dialogue. Either way, it's the script, co-written by Lukas Kendall and director Robert Nathan, that proves to be the biggest hurdle. It's not terrible, and none of it rings untrue, but it just needs to be a bit tighter and sharper. And the structure would have been improved, in my opinion, if the guys had just gone from A to B, without a small prologue showing C and then moving back to A.

Nathan does fine with the direction, however, and he's helped by a decent selection of performers. Paulson does well as the man who seems a bit strange, but may just be too sweet and naive for the experience lined up for him. Rue is pretty convincing as a professional porn star. No, I don't mean that as a derisory comment. She's comfortable with the nudity that has to be part of the film, and manages to show that she's been around in the industry long enough to know a lot of the tricks of the trade, as well as whatever she finds acceptable and unacceptable. Don McManus is equally convincing as the man orchestrating the action. He may be a "porn baron" but he also just tries to make the best out of any bad situation, like anyone used to working in the independent movie business. Catherine Annette is a lot of fun as someone trying to break into the business, while Chris Wylde and Lanny Joon are both fine as the two guys working to capture enough footage to make into the next popular episode of Lucky Bastard.

Small niggles aside, Lucky Bastard is a solid piece of entertainment. It has some interesting points to make, it builds to a decent climax (no pun intended), and it stars Betsy Rue. What? I can choose to deem that fact a major bonus point if I like, and I do.

7/10

http://www.amazon.com/Lucky-Bastard-Don-McManus/dp/B00KGLN4BK/ref=sr_1_3?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1408908460&sr=1-3&keywords=lucky+bastard

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