I went into this movie looking for laughs and that's exactly what I got. The premise of the film is rather daffy; two decent men are in desperate need for money; one (Ice Cube) to prevent his beloved son moving to Atlanta with
his mother who has no other choice since she has debts that she cannot afford; the other (Tracy Morgan) secured a deal with a Jamaican thug to sell wheelchairs but messed it up, lost the wheelchairs and now owes the guy a
lot of money. So what do they do? They stumble upon this church, they sit, they enjoy the music and the singing; and notice that the church's deacon handles a lot of money for the church's upcoming repairs. The next day, Tracy
Morgan's character LeeJohn suggests they rob the church to Ice Cube's Durell's outrage. He immediately refuses but after an impass concerning his son's departure, he becomes determined to do it. But not everything goes
according to plan, quickly the two are compelled by circumstances to turn the robbery into a hostage situation.
The main characters are not thugs, they are men who are driven by despair and see no other way out to get money on such short notice. They are driven by their enclosing circumstances; at many points during the movie they
struggle with their morality. Durell is a serious man, but has a soft spot for his son. LeeJohn is a goofy man-child who doesn't even have an idea of when his birthday is. The most interesting aspect of the plot is that when the two men realize that the money they are after is not actually there, meaning somebody stole it first; which can only be one of the people having a meeting on the church that same night.
It has many ingredients to make it appealing; the interactions between hostage takers and hostages, Katt Williams' funny input, the final message of the movie delivered by Momma T (Olivia Cole) and the funny exchanges between
Durell and LeeJohn.
Ice Cube plays his usual self, acting all tough but warm inside; Tracy Morgan also plays his usual character, very similar to his character Tracy Jordan on 30 Rock. That's what functions, that's the verified formula for comedic
success. The other supporting actors give fine performances: Chi McBride as the Pastor, Loretta Devine as Sister Dory, Malinda Williams as the Pastor's daughter Tianna, the aforementioned Katt Williams as the church's choir
director and Michael Beach as the deacon, who is great!
I had a nice time watching this flick and would definitely watch it again when in the mood for comedy. It can be a bit stereotypical at certain moments, but is definitely very watchable.
