Illegal Tender (2007)

18% of critics liked it
(50 reviews)
67% of users liked it
(4,734 ratings)

A Latino teen with a bright future is forced to battle the sins of the past when the thugs who killed his father return to finish off the rest of the family. College student Wilson De Leon, Kr. (Rick Gonzalez) has an adoring girlfriend and a doting mother, but never once has he been compelled to… More A Latino teen with a bright future is forced to battle the sins of the past when the thugs who killed his father return to finish off the rest of the family. College student Wilson De Leon, Kr. (Rick Gonzalez) has an adoring girlfriend and a doting mother, but never once has he been compelled to stand up for what he believes in. When gangsters killed Wilson's father, his mother Wanda (Wanda De Jesus) was forced to flee from her home in order to protect her two sons. From that point on, Wanda determined to give her boys the best life possible. Now that past has returned with a vengeance, but Wanda isn't running anymore. As the murderous gangsters attempt to finish the job that they started by killing Wilson's father, mother and son combine their wits to turn the tables on their tormentors and stand their ground. Empire director Franc Reyes writes and directs a thriller produced by John Singleton. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 48 min.
Directed By: Franc Reyes
Written By: Franc. Reyes
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Drama

In Theaters: Aug 24, 2007 Wide
On DVD: Dec 18, 2007
Studio: Universal Pictures

Critic Reviews

Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter
An entertaining genre piece boasting a terrifically sinewy lead performance from Wanda De Jesus.
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
More care seems to have been taken with the cut of Gonzalez's sideburns than with the shape of the story, and the hyperbolic soundtrack does most of the work of the mise en scene.
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
What in God's name was going on with this movie?
Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle
Plenty of movies have combined a blazing-guns revenge story with a family dynamics drama, but Illegal Tender never gets the mixture right, lurching between bullet-happy shootouts and overwrought domestic content.
Lisa Rose, Newark Star-Ledger
Illegal Tender isn't quite the mess you expect this time of year, a film that achieves a certain level of originality by reversing gender roles.
Kyle Smith, New York Post
The real mystery here is why this slapdash semi-effort didn't go straight to video.
Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile
Clearly aware of the impact of visual style on the narrative, Jonathan Ogilvie uses a stylised 1920 Australian setting for a love triangle that involves all the basic drivers of human frailty
Louise Keller, Urban Cinefile
This is a story that sizzles with its themes of corruption, infidelity, racism and power. But there's a vital flaw ...
Cynthia Fuchs, Common Sense Media
Vengeful gangster violence comes to the 'burbs.
David Cornelius, DVDTalk.com
There are so many chances for Illegal Tender to get things right that it's depressing to realize that it misses all of them.
David Thomas, Filmcritic.com
bland and forgettable.
Kam Williams, Sly Fox
Can anybody say Latinosploit?
Kam Williams, NewsBlaze
Brainless bloodsport, Cholo-style.
Prairie Miller, NewsBlaze
A 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.
Adam Fendelman, HollywoodChicago.com
You know the film is off to a paltry start when you see the rookie Rick Gonzalez attempt to strut bad-boy, awww-yeah stuff. Instead, he feels like a 21-year-old boy just going through puberty.
Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle
Unlike Black Snake Moan, Illegal Tender never transcends its cliches.
Mark Holcomb, Time Out New York
It's hard to shake the impression that this movie has the sort of penny-pinching authenticity Quentin Tarantino's been trying for his entire career.
Donald Munro, Fresno Bee
A mix of cinematic thrills and sagging melodrama.
Pete Hammond, Maxim
Over-the-top melodrama that offers lots of freewheeling gunplay and action in desperate search of a believable story.
Prairie Miller, Long Island Press
There's a supposed family values clause tossed into the violent mix that goes something like, the family that slays together, stays together. And with assassins closing in, mom needs her son to spend some quality time with her, mowing them all down.

Read all 20 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Roy G

There are so many chances for Illegal Tender to get things right that it's depressing to realize that it misses all of them.
Fascade F

This movie was interesting...the time span...the past affecting the future...it's all here. Shows the importance of communication between the last generation and this generation regardless of whose in the wrong...family first!
Deb S

Wilson Deleon Jr. (Rick Gonzalez) is the son of a slain drug dealer, whose killers still have every intention of wiping out the rest of the Deleon family 20 plus years later. After his family's location is discovered, Wilson is thrust into a situation in which he must leave his… More
Wilson Deleon Jr. (Rick Gonzalez) is the son of a slain drug dealer, whose killers still have every intention of wiping out the rest of the Deleon family 20 plus years later. After his family's location is discovered, Wilson is thrust into a situation in which he must leave his home and adoring girl friend and confront his assailants while learning more about the father he never knew. Wanda De Jesus plays the woman protecting her children who just happens to know how to shoot and will do anything to protect her children. It's finally time to take action and now, they're done running.
William G

A History of Violence by way of Bronx, with props to Wanda De Jesus.
Remi L

Surprisingly decent. I was gung-ho to see this film because I know so little about Afro-Latin culture, so to see it get its shine in American film was a treat
Chosen 7

Actually a good film, a little lacking in the acting area at times though.