• Is it age appropriate?

  About our ratings

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  Not age appropriate for kids under 15, age appropriate for kids over 99; suggested age 16.

• Is it any good?

  2.0

• Common Sense says

  Vengeful gangster violence comes to the 'burbs.

Why We Rated This for Ages 16–18

What to watch out for

• Messages:

  Most of the gangsters and drug dealers are obviously villains, but Will also learns that his mother loved his gangster father; her capacity for violence is based on her desire to protect her two sons. Javier's gang is all bad -- their motives are selfish and their methods ruthless.
• Violence:

  The film opens with gangsters beating up an old man and continues to get more aggressive in its depictions of injury and death. Violence includes shooting, punching, slapping, kicking, stabbing, and more shooting. The shootouts are loud and feature some slow-motion images that emphasize just how many bullets are fired (lots of missed targets and shot-up walls and windows). Millie keeps an arsenal in her basement; when the bad guys arrive, she has all kinds of fight-back firepower ready. In a flashback scene, a woman commits suicide by taking pills. A climactic murder leaves blood on an important painting (the shot is repeated for emphasis).
• Sex:

  Women wear lots of tight shirts, short skirts, skimpy underwear, and bikini tops that show cleavage (shots include close-ups and low-angle views from the rear). An early scene (repeated as a flashback) shows a couple having sex, viewed through a gauzy curtain: The naked woman's profiled breasts are visible. Will complains that his mother is seeing too many different men. Will and Ana kiss passionately on several occasions; in one scene, she "dances" provocatively in his car.
• Language:

  Lots, lots, lots: Many uses of "f--k," plus other profanity: "s--t," a couple of "hells," "damns," and "asses," and "c--k" and "c--ksucker."
• Consumerism:

  Mentions of various product and corporate names, including Microsoft, Calvin Klein, Marlboro Lights, iPod, and Coca-Cola. A grocery shopping scene shows aisles of products, some prominently displayed (including Special K, Fruit Loops, Doritos).
• Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

  Viewers are told repeatedly that Wilson Sr. is a drug dealer (he's not actually shown dealing or doing drugs). Millie's mother has a drink at home; grown-up Millie drinks wine with her boyfriend; bar scenes show background characters drinking and smoking; Will drinks champagne with Choco; a character overdoses on pills to commit suicide in a flashback. Characters smoke cigarettes and handle boxes of cigarettes during conversations (Will does encourage his mother to quit smoking, at least in the kitchen).

What Parents Need to Know

About Illegal Tender

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