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Parents' Guide to

Illegal Tender

By Cynthia Fuchs, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 18+

Vengeful gangster violence comes to the 'burbs.

Movie R 2007 108 minutes
Illegal Tender Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

While Will's character arc (innocent boy is redefined by manly violence) is plain enough, it's Millie's trajectory that gives the movie its astounding and frequently entertaining energy. It's one of those big fat movie moments. While Millie recalls hot Blaxploitation mamas like Foxy Brown and Cleopatra Jones, she is, at the same time, a literal mama, defending her sons with alarming élan.

Much of the movie is overwrought and then some, featuring over-explanatory dialogue, sluggish pacing, and not one but two climactic trips to Javier's Puerto Rican headquarters. The shooting is incessant, the rage and betrayal predictable, and the outcome is foregone. But Millie -- she's spectacular.

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