Tyler Perry wasn't the first to make a movie running the melodrama gamut. But the success of his Why Did I Get Married? and Madea's Family Reunion are inspiring other filmmakers to follow suit. First Sunday, the latest such movie, means well and wants nothing more than to leave viewers with a nice little life lesson or two. Unfortunately, its storytelling process involves burying its good intentions under a mountain of misplaced comedy, ham-fisted drama, and, ironically enough, a shaky sense of morals.

Durell (Ice Cube) and LeeJohn (Tracy Morgan) are the best of friends but the worst of business partners. LeeJohn's harebrained schemes to make some quick cash have a tendency to backfire in the worst of ways, the latest of which lands the pair with a 5,000-hour community service sentence and has LeeJohn deep in debt with some Rastafarian gangsters. Then, just when it seems like things couldn't get any worse, Durell's ex (Regina Hall) announces she intends on moving to Atlanta -- and wants to take her and Durell's son (C.J. Sanders) with her. Desperate to come up with the cash it'll take to make her stay, Durell sees no other choice than to rob a nearby church in the middle of a successful fundraiser. However, little does he know that when he and LeeJohn decide to go through with the heist, getting the money will be no easy task, for  one of the so-called holy rollers they take hostage may have made off with the dough first.

First Sunday's most serious thematic flaw is wanting to have its cake and eat it too. The film's central lesson teaches that stealing should never be the answer, especially when it's the Lord you're technically stealing from. But writer/director David E. Talbert runs into some trouble by having stacked the deck against Durell so much, there really is no other option for him. It's not as if Durell comes across as a slacker, since he actually goes out and tries looking for a job before turning to a life of crime. But Talbert seems afraid to lend the slightest sense of moral ambiguity to the character, presenting stealing as his only option, then condemning him when he chooses to do so. How Durrell's problems are solved becomes especially frustrating because even a blind person could see that coming. And it still appears like a cheap way out considering the code of ethics Talbert establishes at the outset.

First Sunday also has the nerve to preach to viewers in the most melodramatic of ways while juggling duties as a somewhat bawdy comedy. That's right, one second the characters are making wisecracks, then the next they're saddled with tons of emotional baggage and bawling like they're guests on Dr. Phil. 

Still, at the very least, the cast does a rather nice job of elevating the movie's weak and simplistic script. Although Tracy Morgan's goofy antics wear thin fast, Ice Cube fares well as the straight man of the duo, giving his role the sort of teddy-bear likability that helped the man endure the crummiest of projects (Barbershop 2, anyone?). Keith David pitches in his usual gruff performance as a tough-as-nails judge, and Chi McBride is alright as the church's all-too-patient pastor, but I'm not impressed by stand-up comic Katt Williams' irritating turn as a choir director who apparently has the urge to throw out a one-liner whenever he opens his mouth.

First Sunday will have no trouble finding an audience, for anyone who's enjoyed the works of Tyler Perry will have fun with this similarly-themed film. But if you're  turned off by Perry's one-dimensional characters and over-the-top dramatics, get ready for First Sunday to dole out more of the same, just in a slightly more tolerable package.

MY RATING: * 1/2 (out of ****)

(Released by Screen Gems and rated "PG-13" for language, some sexual humor and brief drug references.)