Ice Cube (left) and Tracy Morgan star in "First Sunday."

Ice Cube might not be the best actor in the world, but in the right kind of role, he can be a likable character and a fitting leading man.

In "First Sunday," though, he stretches that, playing Durell, a guy with a somewhat checkered past, but wants to be a role model for his young son.

His biggest stumbling block is his buddy LeeJohn (Tracy Morgan), whose moneymaking schemes have left them both in trouble on both sides of the law.

Their solution? Rob a church that has been saving money for either improvements or relocation.

So the duo cracks open the church's coffers, only to find someone else has taken the loot.

The film completely deconstructs and turns villains into heroes, offering Hollywood's lamest and most insulting brand of ready-made redemption.

The laughs are few and far between, relying on the same jokes used in scores of other movies both better and worse than this one.

Morgan brings his emotionally stunted simpleton schtick from TV's "30 Rock" to this production, and while he lifts the film at times, he's not at his best.

Cube is bland, and his character's desperation leaves him on the cusp of exploding, which hampers the sense of connection the audience should have with the character, and makes him less likable when he's shouting and sticking a gun in the face of the congregation.

I found Katt Williams' flamboyantly gay choir director is insufferably irritating and unfunny. He is playing the Robin Williams/Jim Carrey "look at me I'm funny!" role, blatantly and desperately trying to steal the show.

And perhaps the funniest of all the characters, Keith David, is underused to criminal proportions as a judge. He plays the straight man here, but he could carry a movie by himself, something anyone who has seen "There's Something About Mary" or "Men at Work" knows.

In all, it's a miss, a lazy, dull comedy that with the talent involved could have been much better.