First Sunday, which opens in theaters today, is a throwback to when Ice Cube fit snuggly alongside a jesting sidekick. In this case the sidekick is Tracy Morgan. But neither Morgan nor Cube stand out as leading men in Sunday. They’re not even intriguing enough to keep focus on the flick’s scattered plot.
At certain points, the usually engaging Morgan seems to be trying too hard, with corny jokes (if they could be called that) lining up perfectly behind each other like a repetitious melody on a broken record. But, luckily, there is a saving grace in Sunday, or as the old biblical credo goes: “The first shall be last and the last shall be first”— Sunday’s real star turn comes from the petite, permed “pimp” Katt Williams.
Written and directed by David E. Talbert—a director best known for parlaying lucrative gospel stage plays only a few years ago—First Sunday is about two cousins, Durell (Cube) and LeeJohn (Morgan) who scheme to rob a church in order to catch a break. Durell needs the money to keep his baby’s mom from moving his son to Atlanta, and LeeJohn, a knucklehead who somehow becomes the film’s most empathetic character, has to pony up dough for a pack of hustlers he pissed off.
When the two go to clean the church out, the wandering eyes of a white Jesus follows them from a portrait on the wall, a deacon (Michael Beach), a choir and the church’s financial meeting interrupt the heist. Eventually, the congregation members are taken hostage. It’s during this time the film goes from half-baked sleeper to the “Katt Williams Show.”
Williams, who plays choir director Rickey, is a metro-sexual who tell it like it is. In one scene, Rickey briefly directs the choir before noticing a member becoming too excited with her Lord-praising. Rickey excoriates the crooner.
“Everybody can’t be a black butterfly,” he deadpans. “Somebody got to be a moth.”
The rest of Sunday is driven by almost perfect quips from Williams’ character, and a tearjerker moment between Morgan’s character LeeJohn and Loretta Divine’s Sister Doris.
Though Sunday is a decent family flick, with encouraging undertones about the power of God, the only thing that could have taken it from sappy to remarkable would have been more camera time for the film’s resident diva, Katt Williams.
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Comments
1.
nicolexue says:
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share it to my blog at site STDromance
January 18, 2008 at 12:39 am
2.
bobbybowden says:
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I’m not sure who wrote this review, but you have managed to do the same thing that the rest of Hollywood has done which is sabotage our black films on the runway before they get a chance to take off. This movie has the same type of slow plot as Friday, yet, Friday is a classic. Young writers expect to walk into a movie theatre and immediately be drawn into a movie with over the top circumstances. I liked this movie because again, it started out just like Friday. Meaning the movie starts out realistically. The situations that took place to get them to the church, where the movie takes off, could have easily happened to you or I. Regular people are able to relate to movies like this because it shows you that sometimes people do have to make choices in life based on bad life circumstances. These types of things happen to people all the time. Your child is threatened to be moved far away from you. Or, someone has made a bad decision to make some quick cash and end up owing even more money in the end. It’s a good movie, with a good plot. I agree with the previous poster. I feel that all of the characters, down to the overweight choir member, played their part the way they were supposed to. If Kat Williams’ extra comedy relief stole the show to you, then you missed the entire movie.
Bobby R. Bowden, MBA
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January 13, 2008 at 8:49 am
3.
tasha7132 says:
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I just viewed the movie today and I thought it was hilariously funny. But I don't think anyone stole the show. All the actors and actresses did an extraordinary job.
January 12, 2008 at 6:35 pm
4.
tasha7132 says:
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I just viewed the movie today and I thought it was hilariously funny. But I don't think anyone stole the show. All the actors and actresses did an extraordinary job.
January 12, 2008 at 6:34 pm