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Movies / On DVD / Illegal Tender
Illegal Tender

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Illegal Tender (2007)

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Reviews Counted:47

Fresh:8

Rotten:39

Average Rating:4/10

Consensus: Lackluster acting and a ridiculous plot make the over-the-top Illegal Tender an unrealistic bust.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for violence, language and some sexuality.

Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Aug 24, 2007 Limited

Box Office: $3,054,430

Synopsis: After the gangsters who killed his father come to settle a score, a teenage boy and his mother turn the tables on the killers. Producer John Singleton (Four Brothers, Hustle & Flow) and... After the gangsters who killed his father come to settle a score, a teenage boy and his mother turn the tables on the killers. Producer John Singleton (Four Brothers, Hustle & Flow) and writer/director Franc. Reyes (Empire) join forces to tell the story of one Latino family's quest for honor and revenge as the hunted become the hunters in the new thriller Illegal Tender. Wilson De Leon, Jr. (Rick Gonzalez) is an exceptional college student with an adoring girlfriend, doting mother and a future full of promise. He has never wanted for anything, and he has never been forced to stand his ground. But when ghosts from his mother's past come back to haunt his present, he must defend his family...and quickly turn into the strong man his father prayed he'd become. Nothing could stop Wilson's mother, Millie (Wanda De Jesus), from protecting her two boys. Forced to flee her home after gangsters killed her husband, she made an oath to give her children only the best. But all that changes when an enemy from the past catches up with them. It's finally time to take action--and now, they're done running. Weapons at the ready, Wilson, Jr. and Millie prepare for a final showdown with the murderer who robbed him of a father and her of a husband. Now, in a battle fueled by family ties and blood feuds, it will become very clear what happens when anyone tries to come between this son and his mother. --© Universal Pictures [More]

Starring: Rick Gonzalez, Wanda De Jesus, Dania Ramirez, Tego Calderon

Starring: Rick Gonzalez, Wanda De Jesus, Dania Ramirez, Tego Calderon, Manny Perez, Gary Perez

Director: Franc. Reyes

Director: Franc. Reyes
Screenwriter: Franc. Reyes
Producer: John Singleton
Composer: Heitor Pereira
Studio: Universal Pictures

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Release:

Dec 18, 2007

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Reviews for Illegal Tender

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41 - 50 (sorted by date)
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It is fun to see Wanda de Jesus get all Pam Grier and shoot off two big guns at once after making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for her son. But the big dumb story and the big dumb dialogue keep getting in the way.

Full Review Source: Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies | comment Comment
08/23/07
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

Pure B-movie hokum...a cheesy, goofy combination of family melodrama and gangster cliche that strains not only credulity but patience.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
08/23/07
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

Credit Illegal Tender for actually taking time to tell a story, though the lack of momentum sometimes makes the movie feel like a two-hour slow motion sequence.

Full Review Source: Metromix.com | comment Comment
08/23/07
Matt Pais
Matt Pais
Metromix.com

A throwback to 1970s blaxploitation flicks, with a Latin accent, Illegal Tender would be a brassy, sassy guilty pleasure if it were more, well, pleasurable.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
08/23/07
Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post

Can you say 'overwrought,' boys and girls? I knew you could.

Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment Comment
08/23/07
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher

This second-rate action drama features a mostly Latino but mostly wasted cast.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
08/23/07
Rafer Guzman
Rafer Guzman
Newsday

Wanda De Jesus' Pam Grier-worthy performance is the life force of the film. She's like a domestic Foxy Brown.

Full Review Source: Sun Publications (Chicago, IL) | comment Comment
08/23/07
Josh Larsen
Josh Larsen
Sun Publications (Chicago, IL)

Pic is too muted to have much lasting impact, and remains modestly diverting only on a scene-to-scene basis.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
08/22/07
Joe Leydon
Joe Leydon
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

For a second, the movie has the snap of a truly surprising thriller... But then we go back to following the kid, who manages to both mope and strut along the path to manhood.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
08/22/07
Marc Bernardin
Marc Bernardin
Entertainment Weekly

A problematic but compelling exaltation of violence, privilege, and ethnic pride, Illegal Tender is incessantly but hotly scored, suggesting something of a Sirk melodrama for our Reggaeton times.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
08/20/07
Ed Gonzalez
Ed Gonzalez
Slant Magazine
 
 
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Latest News for Illegal Tender

August 25, 2007: Director Reyes compounds cultural negativity in this bloody shoot-em-up, with the accent on ruthless South Bronx drug dealers with lifelong grudges, and their scantily clad Latina 'Simple Simon Says' assassin sidekicks. Opens in new window
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April 28, 2007: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
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