Illegal Tender


2.5/4

Starring: Rick Gonzalez, Wanda de Jesus, Dania Ramirez, Gary Perez

Rated R for Violence, Language and Some Sexuality

“Illegal Tender” is the very definition of mediocrity.  The acting is so-so, the plot is so-so, the character development is so-so, and the pacing is so-so.  The only thing that the film does well is create tense action sequences, but this is more of a crime drama than an action thriller.

On the day he was born, Wilson DeLeon Jr’s (Gonzalez) father was murdered.  His mother (de Jesus) has packed up and moved her family instantaneously four times, but she won’t say why.  Now 20, Wilson refuses to leave with her, but he changes his mind once he and his girlfriend (Ramirez) are attacked.  It turns out that Javier Cordero (Perez), the man who had Wilson Sr. murdered, wants his mother dead too.  In order to stay alive, Wilson and his mother must travel to Puerto Rico to take down Cordero.

There is more than a kernel of promise in this story.  When is it okay to take the law into your own hands?  Is murder ever justifiable?  Even if it is, is the chance of peace worth risking your life?  What about the ones you love?  These are questions that the film poses and attempts to answer, but the film is let down by a pedestrian script and flat performances.

None of the actors are noteworthy.  Rick Gonzalez is adequate as the college student caught between a rock and a hard place, but the actor brings nothing noteworthy to the role.  Wilson is rebellious, but when he realizes the danger his family is in, he attempts to solve the problem on his own (with predictably bad results).  Wanda de Jesus is better, although not by much.  She’s like a poor man’s Angela Bassett: okay when she’s low-key, but hammy when emotion is required.  Dania Ramirez is annoying as Ana, Wilson’s girlfriend.  When she and Wilson are being attacked, she never shuts up.  Gary Perez is flat as the main villain, and there is one instance when he is supposed to cry, but is totally unconvincing.

The film was directed by Franc. Reyes, and he appears to be at home in action movies, not crime dramas.  Try as he might, he can’t develop any of his characters into people with more than two dimensions, and that means boredom.  The film is watchable, especially because he never shows all of his cards until the end.  It’s not until the end of the film that we know the whole story.

The film’s ending is anti-climactic.  With more developed characters and a better constructed story, it might have worked, but here it causes the film to end on a whimper.  Reyes builds up to an action-oriented conclusion, but what he gives us is a contrived, artificial ending that is tied up too quickly and easily.

Not quite a felony, “Illegal Tender” is just a misdemeanor.

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