Some of the old magic still clings to this hectoring, squeaky-clean remake of the thoroughly enjoyable and much better old Cary Grant/Loretta Young hit The Bishop's Wife.

But its re-shaping into a vanity project for poor actress Whitney Houston, who sings nicely but far too often, only underlines the narrative's more tedious and sentimental stretches.

A totally uninvolved Denzel Washington, as the aged angel sent down to earth to deal with the problems of a Baptist minister and his wife, glides through the film with surprisingly little charm, and shows absolutely no rapport at all with his co-stars.

The best display is from Courtney B Vance, who offers a strikingly sincere portrait of the minister, whose humanity (and humility) the rest of the cast would have done well to copy.