First Sunday
Screen Gems | Release Date: January 11, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
41
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
14
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The movie as a whole is pleasant, generally satisfying, and has a heart as big as its funny bone. For an early January movie, this is sometimes as good as it gets. Read full review
60
Village VoiceNick Pinkerton
At first, the movie is over-anxious--trying too hard to squeeze out the laughs, pump up the soundtrack, ingratiate itself with the audience--and the straining is abrasive. But once Talbert gets distracted by keeping the plot clunking along, the comedy eases into relaxed sideline banter. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneJessica Reaves
The movie’s total lack of focus and its unimpressive script should render it totally unwatchable. Weirdly, that doesn’t quite happen. There’s something endearing about these characters. Read full review
50
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Ice Cube and Tracy Morgan are the nominal stars of First Sunday, but it's Katt Williams who steals the show in this by turns trite and mildly amusing B-comedy. Read full review
50
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
First Sunday sometimes feels more like a script read-through than like an actual movie, but its warmth is likely to carry you through the stretches of cliché and tedium. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
A corny yet unexpectedly moving scene in which Morgan is moved to tears by Loretta Devine's simple kindness helps make the film's shift into inspirational drama far more palatable than it really has any right to be. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
This heist comedy has a hackneyed introduction, and its feel-good ending lacks credibility, but the big, funny chunk in the middle marks writer-director-producer David E. Talbert as a talent to watch. Read full review
50
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
The movie is so confused about itself that it comes across as toneless, a bunch of characters wandering around in a story no one is controlling. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Though Ice Cube and Morgan should make an ideal team, neither seems particularly comfortable grappling with Talbert's amateurish script. Most of the laughs, in fact, come from the strong supporting cast, led by a high-energy Williams and the unflappable Devine. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
The second half of the film is much funnier and warmer than the first, but the movie is still difficult to recommend. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyChris Nashawaty
If Tyler Perry ever wanted to turn "Dog Day Afternoon" into a treacly after-school special, it would probably end up looking a lot like this. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
It plods along at a sluggard's pace through a weak premise with crude execution and even cruder characters to arrive at an unearned sentimental ending. Read full review
40
VarietyBrian Lowry
A near-claustrophobic comedy that manages to be both predictable and preachy. Solid actors in supporting roles offer minor redemption. Read full review
40
SalonStephanie Zacharek
First Sunday is simply a case of wasting gifted performers on material that feels slapped together and unshaped. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Tyler Perry has already been here and done that to such a degree that this particular cinematic field should now be plowed under and salted so that nothing might grow thereupon forevermore. Amen. Read full review
38
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
A slack combination of faith-based inspiration and broad 'hood comedy. Read full review
38
USA TodayClaudia Puig
A misguided attempt at comedy that needs to go last on anyone's list of movie options. Read full review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
The problems with First Sunday extend well beyond the hokey premise and predictable performances to the fundamentals of script, direction and tone. Read full review
38
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Drawing comparisons to "The Wire" may be unfair, but taken on its own, this anemic vehicle for Ice Cube and Tracy Morgan to mug and jive through is just weak, weak stuff. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
A sorry excuse for a ghetto SOS. Read full review
38
New York PostKyle Smith
A heist comedy in which the audience gets robbed. Read full review
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