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Movies / On DVD / First Sunday
First Sunday

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First Sunday (2008)

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Reviews Counted:73

Fresh:10

Rotten:63

Average Rating:3.7/10

Consensus: First Sunday may have its heart in the right place, but its funny bone is dislocated.

Rated: 12A [See Full Rating] for language, some sexual humor, and brief drug references.

Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:28-03-2008

Synopsis: David E. Talbert makes his directorial debut with this comedy about Durell (Ice Cube) and LeeJohn (Tracy Morgan), childhood friends with a knack for getting into trouble. Despite his continual bad... David E. Talbert makes his directorial debut with this comedy about Durell (Ice Cube) and LeeJohn (Tracy Morgan), childhood friends with a knack for getting into trouble. Despite his continual bad decisions, Durell gets one thing right: he's a good father to his adolescent son. When he learns that the boy's mother, his ex-girlfriend, Omunique (Regina Hall), needs $17,000 to buy her beauty shop or she'll leave Baltimore and move to Atlanta, he's determined to get her the money to keep his son in his life. Meanwhile, LeeJohn needs big money fast to pay off some bad guys. Durell and LeeJohn decide that the collection plate of their local church holds the answer to their money woes. But their attempt to rob the church is foiled in progress: the money is already missing, and the would-be burglars didn't realize there would be people at the church. Finding themselves with a group of parishioners and choir members at their mercy, Durell and LeeJohn have to make some decisions about exactly what kind of men they want to be. FIRST SUNDAY also makes a statement about the role of the church in urban areas and its importance within the community. Keith David is Deacon Randy, who has grandiose plans for moving the church to a "less urban" neighborhood. Chi McBride stars as Pastor Mitchell, and Malinda Williams is his strong-willed daughter, Tianna, who wants First Hope Community Church to stay right where it is and expand its services. Loretta Devine is Sister Doris, the parish secretary and foster mother with a heart of gold. Ice Cube and Morgan have good rapport as the bickering buddies, with Morgan's silliness providing loads of comic relief, but Katt Williams is the scene-stealer as Rickey, the flamboyant choir director with something to say about everything and everyone. [More]

Starring: Ice Cube, Katt Williams, Tracy Morgan, Loretta Devine

Starring: Ice Cube, Katt Williams, Tracy Morgan, Loretta Devine, Michael Beach, Keith David, Regina Hall, Malinda Williams, Chi McBride

Director: David E. Talbert

Director: David E. Talbert
Screenwriter: David E. Talbert
Producer: David E. Talbert, David McIlvain, Tim Story, Ice Cube, Matt Alvarez
Composer: Stanley Clarke
Studio: Sony Pictures Entertainment

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Reviews for First Sunday

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; UK critics are listed first)
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Seasoned stars such as Loretta Devine and Regina Hall do their best...but it's an uphill struggle with a script even the good lord would rent asunder.

Full Review Source: Sky Movies | comment Comment
03/28/08
Tim Evans
Tim Evans
Sky Movies

Grafting moral uplift on to a slapstick caper with mixed results, this nevertheless captures some of the giddy eccentricity of the Ealing comedies it haphazardly resembles.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
03/28/08
Mark Holcomb
Mark Holcomb
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The least funny man ever to make a career in comedy movies, Ice Cube hauls his sullen mug back in front of the cameras for the execrable First Sunday.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
03/28/08
Wendy Ide
Wendy Ide
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

On your own day of judgement, select a better film from the listings.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
03/28/08
Simon Jordan
Simon Jordan
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Cube's maudlin, overly precious relationship with his son hits a few sour notes, but Morgan's rubbery, half-crazy Leejohn always drags the film back into its manic, cartoony groove.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
03/28/08
Ken McIntyre
Ken McIntyre
Total Film

With his movie debut, Talbert plays to his established audience, the redemption message riding roughshod over everything, even such trifling concerns as character consistency and continuity.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
03/28/08
Phelim O'Neill
Phelim O'Neill
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Loretta Devine and Olivia Cole shine out as veteran members of the flock, but even their class combined is no saving grace.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
03/28/08
Stella Papamichael
Stella Papamichael
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Tired, unfunny comedy with Ice Cube as a bungling crook.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
03/28/08
Sun Online

For a movie that's filled with so many talented comedians, it's shocking that First Sunday is only sporadically funny.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
01/14/08
Ethan Alter
Ethan Alter
Film Journal International

The film somehow ends with religious conversions that leave out any mention of the Almighty.

Full Review Source: eye WEEKLY | comment Comment
01/10/08
Jason Anderson
Jason Anderson
eye WEEKLY

Predictable crime comedy has some iffy content.

Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | comment Comment
01/15/08
Sandie Angulo Chen
Sandie Angulo Chen
Common Sense Media

Even as the film's most stereotypical figure, stand-up comic Katt Williams manages to be the only consistently funny character in this uninspired inspirational comedy.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
01/11/08
Mack Bates
Mack Bates
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

While not all of the jokes work (in fact, some of them misfire badly), there are enough low-key chuckles to retain a light tone.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
01/10/08
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

In addition to the faulty premise, which effortlessly lends itself to writer / director David E. Talbert's preachy agenda, the movie just plain isn't funny.

Full Review Source: FromTheBalcony | comment Comment
01/10/08
Bill Clark
Bill Clark
FromTheBalcony

With its unlikely but sweet-natured story, 'First Sunday' is a cut above most of the "January junk" that floods the theaters this time of year.

Full Review Source: Quad City Times (Davenport, IA) | comment Comment
02/24/08
Linda Cook
Linda Cook
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

The film, written and directed by urban theater circuit playwright David E. Talbert, is far from polished, but it has a rambunctious energy that's hard to resist.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
01/11/08
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune

The missing-church-funds subplot will be easily figured out by any four year old, but it winds up being a McGuffin anyway.

Full Review Source: MSNBC | comment Comment
05/01/08
Alonso Duralde
Alonso Duralde
MSNBC

Who wants reality and a hollow inspirational message after a setup promising madcap laughs?

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
01/11/08
Ted Fry
Ted Fry
Seattle Times

Ice Cube's franchising of the weekdays continues with First Sunday.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
01/17/08
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters

If there's a God, First Sunday will be the last of its kind for Ice Cube and Tracy Morgan, who deserve better than this wannabe screwball comedy about small-time crooks knocking over a church.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment 1 Comment
01/11/08
Dezhda Gaubert
Dezhda Gaubert
E! Online
 
 
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