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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

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for First Sunday

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41 - 60 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

With plot holes the size of boulders, it's a bad effort at wacky humor and schmaltzy redemption that plods and preaches gratingly.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
01/11/08
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today

First Sunday is a movie about forgiveness that asks its audience to forgive too much -- with regard to both its characters and its makers.

Full Review Source: Baltimore Sun | comment Comment
01/11/08
Chris Kaltenbach
Chris Kaltenbach
Baltimore Sun

The comedy about a botched robbery and hostage-taking is so bad that even The Cube's most ardent fans are going to feel they're the real victims.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
01/11/08
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

A sorry excuse for a ghetto SOS.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
01/11/08
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe

Its heart is in the right place and it tries hard--maybe too hard--to earn its sentimental ending.

Full Review Source: Star-Democrat (Easton, MD) | comment Comment
01/11/08
Greg Maki
Greg Maki
Star-Democrat (Easton, MD)

...about as funny as a bad sermon.

Full Review Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette | comment Comment
01/11/08
Daniel M. Kimmel
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

First Sunday is harmless, church-approved optimism with just enough bawdy behavior to keep general audiences attentive to the lessons on right and wrong and urban fatherhood participation. It's medicine, but it's far more agreeable than I expected.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
01/10/08
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
eFilmCritic.com

It's not as if First Sunday sets out to be awful, it simply is.

Full Review Source: CinemaBlend.com | comment Comment
01/10/08
Joshua Tyler
Joshua Tyler
CinemaBlend.com

attempts to go for a Tyler Perry-esque mishmash of silly comedy, melodrama and everyone learning a lesson that will make them better people. Ick.

Full Review Source: WaffleMovies.com | comment Comment
01/10/08
Willie Waffle
Willie Waffle
WaffleMovies.com

Everything here is overly simplified for easy digestion -- dialogue, jokes, characterization, storyline, and payoff

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/10/08
Bill Gibron
Bill Gibron
Filmcritic.com

It has the slapstick of a The Three Stooges short without the comic timing, the characters of "Hot Ghetto Mess" without the irony, and the stereotypes of Amos 'n' Andy without the wit.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/10/08
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

As if Tyler Perry's own films weren't bad enough, now we have to contend with ill-begotten rip-offs of them? Heaven help us.

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
01/10/08
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com

A slack combination of faith-based inspiration and broad 'hood comedy.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
01/10/08
Maitland McDonagh
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide's Movie Guide

This anemic vehicle for Ice Cube and Tracy Morgan to mug and jive through is just weak, weak stuff.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
01/10/08
Steven Rea
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer

Shrug off the recycled script and the movie's trite if uplifting, message and recognize the signs of stardom to come. It won't be too many Sundays before David E. Talbert finds his funny film niche and Katt Williams becomes a top billed star.

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment 1 Comment
01/10/08
Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel

In First Sunday, Ice Cube departs a bit from the upright-citizen persona, playing a man driven to crime by desperate circumstances.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
01/10/08
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The only time viewers will be inspired to sing halleluja is on their way out of the theatre.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
01/10/08
John P. McCarthy
John P. McCarthy
Boxoffice Magazine

Comedies don't have to be high in class as long as they are funny, entertaining and do not treat their audience like imbeciles. First Sunday fails all three of these qualifications.

Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com | comment Comment
01/10/08
Dustin Putman
Dustin Putman
DustinPutman.com

[Katt] Williams blithely walks off with the second half of First Sunday, which more or less walks in place until he arrives.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
01/10/08
Jan Stuart
Jan Stuart
Newsday

Has more bathroom humor than an elementary school cafeteria and so many stereotypes up the wazoo that the wazoo is officially full.

Full Review Source: Metromix.com | comment Comment
01/10/08
Matt Pais
Matt Pais
Metromix.com
 
 
41 - 60 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 >> >|
all

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