First Sunday (2008)

Director:

David E. Talbert

Writer (WGA):

David E. Talbert (written by)

Release Date:

11 January 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

Keep the faith. Steal the rest.

Plot:

Durell and LeeJohn are best friends and bumbling petty criminals. When told they have one week to pay a $17,000 debt or Durell will lose his son, they come up with a desperate scheme to rob their neighborhood church. Instead, they end up spending the night in the presence of the Lord and are forced to deal with much more than they bargained for.

Plot Keywords:

Hairdresser | Choir Director | Police Chase | Pastor | Gospel Choir

Cast

Ice Cube	...	Durell
Katt Williams	...	Rickey
Tracy Morgan	...	LeeJohn
Loretta Devine	...	Sister Doris
Michael Beach	...	Deacon
Keith David	...	Judge B. Bennet Galloway
Regina Hall	...	Omunique
Malinda Williams	...	Tianna
Chi McBride	...	Pastor Arthur Mitchell
Clifton Powell	...	Officer Eddie King
Nicholas Turturro	...	Officer D'Agostino
Olivia Cole	...	Momma T
Red Grant	...	Harold
C.J. Sanders	...	Durell Jr.
Rickey Smiley	...	Bernice Jenkins

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language, some sexual humor, and brief drug references.

Runtime:

USA:96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Australia:PG | South Korea:12 | USA:PG-13 | Argentina:13 | Netherlands:6

Filming Locations:

First Hope Community Church - E. Preston Street & Greenmount Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Company:

Cube Vision

Trivia:

Film prints were delivered to theaters under the codename "Bad to Worse".

Goofs:

Errors in geography: When the Baltimore Police are chasing Durell and LeeJohn's van, we can see a large billboard for DJ BIG BOY, a DJ for Los Angeles radio station Power 106, in the background.

Quotes:

LeeJohn: [sees pictures of JFK and Dr. King] Yo, Durell! They starin at me too!
[LeeJohn clearly uneasy, keeps looking at picture of Dr. King]
LeeJohn: [yelling defensively] I didn't kill the dream!

Movie Connections:

References The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

Soundtrack:

LLT

Review - First Sunday (2008)

It's hard to decide whether to praise or crucify director David E. Talbert for making "First Sunday," but because it wasn't complete blasphemy, I think I he can be forgiven.

Now that I've got those puns out of the way, "First Sunday" is a movie about two friends, Durell (Ice Cube) and LeeJohn (Tracy Morgan), who also happen to be bumbling criminals. In order to pay a $17,000 debt so Durell can keep his son, the two decide to hold up a church for its large sum of donation money. As that plan starts to fall apart, they both learn a lot about themselves that they didn't expect.

Being a fan of "30 Rock," I was looking forward to seeing Morgan take on a film role, and I think he pulled it off just as well as he does on TV. He's pretty much the same sort of character though, so it's not that huge of a leap. His part also would have probably been better if the writing had been the same.

I don't want to go off on a rant, but Ice Cube really showed me with this movie that he is a one-trick pony. He's not a bad actor, but when it comes to comedy he's always the same. I'm pretty sure he only got the job in this because of his character in the "Are We There Yet?" movies. It's just the same thing and I'd like to see him do something else. Seeing as I haven't seen much of his work, I guess I could always start there.

Like I said earlier, the writing isn't the best. There were some funny moments, but every character was generic and every plot was cliché. I thought the actual idea of the movie was interesting at first, but it could have been pulled off better.

In the end, "First Sunday" is not as horrible as it sounds from the trailers and such, and I actually did enjoy it. I just don't think it'll be joining my DVD shelf any time soon. I'll probably buy Juno later this year instead.

Acting: 6/10 Writing: 4/10 Video/Editing: 4/10 Audio/Music: 2/10 Entertainment: 4/10

Final Score: 4/10