First Sunday

First Sunday
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	David E. Talbert
Produced by	David E. Talbert
Written by	David E. Talbert
Starring	Ice Cube Katt Williams Tracy Morgan Loretta Devine Michael Beach Keith David Regina Hall Retta Malinda Williams Chi McBride Clifton Powell Nicholas Turturro Olivia Cole C.J. Sanders Rickey Smiley Arjay Smith
Music by	Stanley Clarke
Cinematography	Alan Caso
Editing by	Jeffrey Wolf
Distributed by	Screen Gems France: StudioCanal Germany: Kinowelt International: TriStar Pictures Worldwide: New Line Cinema
Release date(s)	January 11, 2008 (2008-01-11)
Running time	98 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$38,608,838

First Sunday is a 2008 American comedy film from Screen Gems, written, produced and directed by David E. Talbert, and is his first feature film.^[1]

Synopsis

The film follows Durell (Ice Cube) and LeeJohn (Tracy Morgan) in Baltimore, Maryland, who are best friends and bumbling petty criminals. At the beginning of the film the two have just began working in a store that repairs electronic goods and the manager is impressed by Durell's skillful ability to fix things. LeeJohn gets both men fired when he attempts to steal a TV from the store. Durrel attempts to find another honest job but no one he asks is willing to hire him and he has stated a criminal record on his application form. LeeJohn gets them a one-off job for a local criminal or con man Blahka who will pay them $2000. While attempting to deliver the ten stolen wheelchairs worth $1200 each, they lose the merchandise in a police chase. They are sentenced to 5000 hours of community services. Then they are told they have 24 hours to pay $12,000 to cover the loss or they will be shot dead. Simultaneously, Durell's son will move to Atlanta unless he gives his ex some money to pay her lease. First they try to get a loan from a guy named Mordecai at a massage parlor. LeeJohn goes to get a massage first but is scared away when his massuse is Mordecai (a man). They come up with a desperate scheme to rob their neighborhood church. Instead, they are forced to deal with much more than they bargained for.

When they try to steal the money they find that the money has already been stolen. Enraged they both hold the church hostage until the money turns up. Durell then goes to fix the broken air conditioner while LeeJohn watches over the hostages. He expresses his sadness, and is comforted by Sister Doris.

Meanwhile, Durell and Tianna go to fix the air conditioner. After an awkward conversation, they finally get the air going, and Durell orders everyone back to the lobby. Then the blind, deaf janitor finds the missing money. Durell receives a phone call from his son, which he is ashamed to answer. Momma T then asks for Durell's purpose for what he is doing. Durell answers that he is doing it for his son. Momma T then says that Durell is doing it for himself, as he is blaming everyone but the person responsible, himself.

He says that he will not lose his son and leaves the money. Unfortunately, cops have surrounded the church, blocking their way out. The pastor tells them to escape out the back, which leads to a chase which gets the two of them caught. At the trial, which the entire church is attending, The Deacon says that they have been accused of stealing 64,000 dollars. Although the amount of said money collected was half of what the Deacon claimed was stolen, which puts the deacon at question. Since none of the people stand when witnesses are called, the case is dropped. He goes back to Omunique's apartment where he is confronted by the men who gave them the wheelchairs.

After he explains his situation, the two men allow him to go and get his son. Omunique opens the door yelling at Durell asking him where did the money come from. The money was left at her doorstep and Durell tells her it was a gift and to please don't take his son away. Saying his son is all he has. she tells him that yes we will stay. In the end LeeJohn and Durrel appear much happier and it is implied Durrel is closer to his ex-wife and son while LeeJohn remains close to Doris and Timothy. The remaining money is used to restore the community and Tianna is seen painting a community centre.

Cast

• Ice Cube as Durell
• Katt Williams as Rickey
• Tracy Morgan as LeeJohn
• Loretta Devine as Sister Doris
• Michael Beach as the Deacon
• Keith David as Judge B. Bennet Galloway
• Regina Hall as Omunique
• Retta as Roberta
• Malinda Williams as Tianna
• Chi McBride as Pastor Arthur Mitchell
• Clifton Powell as Officer Eddie King
• Nicholas Turturro as Officer D'Agostino
• Olivia Cole as Momma T
• C. J. Sanders as Durell Jr.
• Rickey Smiley as Bernice Jenkins
• Arjay Smith as Preston
• P. J. Byrne as Assistant D.A.
• Paul Campbell as Blahka
• Tiffany Pollard as Omunique's Client

Critical reception

The film received negative reviews from critics. As of February 19, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that the film has received 14% positive reviews, based on 73 reviews.^[2] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 41 out of 100, based on 21 reviews.^[3]

Box office

The film opened at #2 at the box office, behind The Bucket List, with $17,714,821 with an average of $8,004 from 2,213 theaters. When First Sunday closed on February 24, 2008, the film has grossed $37,931,869 from the North American box office and $844,216 in the foreign box office adding to $38,776,085 worldwide. It grossed more than $100,000 in only four regions outside of the United States, including South Africa ($189,960), the United Kingdom and Ireland ($152,372), Kuwait ($129,332) and the United Arab Emirates ($101,412).^[4]

Releases

It was released January 11, 2008 in the United States and Canada and was released throughout Europe in April 2008.^[5] The film was released on DVD May 6, 2008. It will also be released on Blu-ray, UMD and will have an "Exclusive Edition" with a CD at Walmart.

References

1. ^ Ice Cube Makes Sunday Plans. ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 2010-11-28.
2. ^ "First Sunday Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 2008-01-17. http://web.archive.org/web/20080117120722/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1190235-_first_sunday. Retrieved 2008-01-19. 
3. ^ "First Sunday Reviews, Ratings, Credits". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/firstsunday. Retrieved 2008-01-19. 
4. ^ First Sunday (2008). Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2010-11-28.
5. ^ Release dates for 'First Sunday' (2008). IMDb. Retrieved 2010-11-28.

External links

• Official website
• First Sunday at the Internet Movie Database
• First Sunday at AllRovi
• First Sunday at Rotten Tomatoes
• First Sunday at Metacritic
• First Sunday at Box Office Mojo