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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: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for language, some sexual humor, and brief drug references.

Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:Jan 11, 2008 Wide

Box Office: $37,931,869

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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Release:

May 6, 2008

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • Ice Cube and Tracy Morgan are two thieves who haven't got a prayer in FIRST SUNDAY, a sinfully, funny comedy co-starring Katt Williams and Chi McBride. Sentenced to 5,000 hours of community service, Durell Jefferson's (Cube) life quickly goes from bad to worse. Realizing that the Lord helps those who help themselves, he eventually decides to help himself to the neighborhood church's building fund. Accompanied by his dimwitted partner-in-crime LeeJohn (Morgan), the two down-on-their-luck men are dismayed to discover the cash has already been stolen, so they hold the congregation hostage in a Hail Mary attempt to learn who amongst the righteous has already run away with their loot! Also starring Tiffany New York Pollard, Rickey Smiley, Loretta Devine and Malinda Williams.
  • Source: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
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    Reviews for First Sunday

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    21 - 40 (sorted by date)
    Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 >> >|
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    First Sunday isn’t the most refined moviemaking you’ll ever see, but it gives 2008 cinema a perfectly humane start.

    Full Review Source: New York Press | comment Comment
    01/16/08
    Armond White
    Armond White
    New York Press

    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

    Combining the hijinks of the Friday series with the spiritual bent of Tyler Perry's work seems like an obvious move. For producer/star Ice Cube, it's also a dishonest one.

    Full Review Source: Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia) | comment Comment
    01/15/08
    Mark Palermo
    Mark Palermo
    Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

    First Sunday, a self-described 'funny and heartwarming comedy,' stumbles in the comedy department, but fills the heart's collection plate with a strong inspirational finish.

    Full Review Source: San Antonio Express-News | comment Comment
    01/14/08
    Larry Ratliff
    Larry Ratliff
    San Antonio Express-News

    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

    A cringe-inducing, cinematic tribute to the Golden Age of Minstrelsy!

    Full Review Source: AALBC.com | comment 1 Comment
    01/12/08
    Kam Williams
    Kam Williams
    AALBC.com

    The movie is designed to be uplifting and inspirational, but everything about it is tired and listless. It doesn't so much make you feel the spirit as drain it out of you.

    Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
    01/11/08
    Stephanie Zacharek
    Stephanie Zacharek
    Salon.com
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    [S]tupid, nonsensical, incoherent, incompetent storytelling guaranteed to offend anyone who cares about the integrity of concepts such as justice, morality, and being responsible for one's own behavior...

    Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment Comment
    01/11/08
    MaryAnn Johanson
    MaryAnn Johanson
    Flick Filosopher

    The movie's total lack of focus and its unimpressive script should render it totally unwatchable. Weirdly, that doesn't quite happen.

    Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
    01/11/08
    Jessica Reaves
    Jessica Reaves
    Chicago Tribune

    Your enjoyment of this movie may depend on the Tracy Morgan factor. Rarely has there been a comic who can switch from funny to unbearably grating with such speed.

    Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
    01/11/08
    Tom Long
    Tom Long
    Detroit News

    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

    While we can't presume to know the Lord's mind, somewhere in the footnotes to the Ten Commandments there must be a rule about not using insipid piety to excuse incompetent comedy.

    Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
    01/11/08
    Liam Lacey
    Liam Lacey
    Globe and Mail
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    As the mind wanders during the first chuckle-free half-hour of the Ice Cube comedy First Sunday, a thought occurs: Shouldn't you have to win an Oscar before you make a movie this bad?

    Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
    01/11/08
    Jim Slotek
    Jim Slotek
    Jam! Movies

    It tries far too hard and achieves far too little. The laughs it causes are guilty ones, but not that guilty, because there aren’t that many.

    Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
    01/11/08
    Jason Heck
    Jason Heck
    Kansas City Star

    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

    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

    Though Ice Cube and Morgan should make an ideal team, neither seems particularly comfortable grappling with Talbert's amateurish script.

    Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
    01/11/08
    Elizabeth Weitzman
    Elizabeth Weitzman
    New York Daily News

    Ice Cube goes cold in First Sunday, a heist comedy in which the audience gets robbed.

    Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
    01/11/08
    Kyle Smith
    Kyle Smith
    New York Post
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Ice Cube has been taking a lot of heat in recent years for abandoning his tough guy image in exchange for Hollywood stardom, and First Sunday appears to be a compromise.

    Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
    01/11/08
    Peter Hartlaub
    Peter Hartlaub
    San Francisco Chronicle

    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
     
     
    21 - 40 (sorted by date)
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