Laurence Fishburne has been a cowboy on a children’s show (Peewee’s Playhouse), a thug in a Charles Bronson flick (Death Wish 2), a rock ‘n’ roll legend (What’s Love Got to Do With It?), the captain of a hovercraft called the Nebuchadnezzar (The Matrix), a college prof and spelling coach (Akeelah and the Bee), and even Marvel comics legend the Silver Surfer (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer).
But a preacher? That’s Fishburne’s latest role in the Hallmark Channel Hall of Fame movie Have a Little Faith, airing Sunday, Nov. 27, on ABC-TV. The movie, based on the latest best-selling book by Mitch Albom (Tuesdays with Morrie, The Five People You Meet in Heaven), features Fishburne as Henry Covington, a Detroit preacher who overcame a life mired in drugs and crime. Albom, portrayed by Bradley Whitford, met the reverend-in-recovery when he wrote newspaper columns about homeless people.
The other central character in Albom’s book and movie is New Jersey Rabbi Albert Lewis, played by Martin Landau. “The Reb,” as Albom calls him, asks Albom to write his eulogy.
The charismatic preacher and the feisty rabbi could hardly be more different, but they both affect Albom profoundly affect the writer. It’s a story about losing belief, and finding it again.
The film airs Nov. 27 9-11 p.m. ET. Here’s the trailer:
