Throughout history, crime thriller films have had the unique opportunity to tell stories as they relate to certain cultural trends and norms in the U.S. from Italians to African Americans. One culture increasing visibility in the crime thriller is the Latino culture and filmmaker Franc. Reyes attempts to bring this cultural perspective into the rather uneven drama Illegal Tender.

Wilson DeLeon Jr. (Rick Gonzalez) is a young man who exceptionally smart, attends college, and has a pretty and loving girlfriend named Ana (Dania Ramirez). He is raised in an affluent neighborhood in Connecticut with devoted mother Millie (Wanda DeJesus) and has a close relationship with his younger half-brother Randy (Antonio Ortiz).

Despite having a rather standoffish and somewhat spoiled mindset, Wilson seems generally content and appears to have it all. However, that charmed life is soon shattered as violent gangsters suddenly emerge in town to intimidate and try to kill him, his mother, and half-brother.

He quickly learns from his mother that his long-dead father was a drug dealer wiped out twenty years by feared Puerto Rican crime boss Javier Cordero (Gary Perez) for allegedly stealing money, which forced her and the family into continual hiding. Not wanting to see his mother and family live in perpetual fear, he ultimately convinces his mother to fly with him to Puerto Rico to confront Javier once and for all, although he soon realizes that the mobster's reasons for targeting the family run much more deep than money.

Illegal Tender is one of those movies that is often very interesting, yet is somewhat writer/director Franc Reyes's lack of a definitive approach. He shows that he indeed has a lot of potential as a filmmaker as he keeps the film consistently thrilling and exciting.

However, despite this, as well as often great performances from the cast, including Rodriguez and DeJesus, Reyes ultimately stumbles as he seems too indecisive with whether the story should be taken as deadly serious or as pure entertainment. On one hand, it's often sober, intense, and menacing enough with moments that constantly keep you on edge. However, it's also oddly occasionally hyper-stylized, glossy, and exploitative enough to be seen as gangster lore almost reminiscent of 1970's blaxploitation films.

All in all, Legal Tender is exciting enough to reveal that Franc. Reyes is a talented writer and director with a potential future in the world of the action/drama. However, his seemingly disparate meshing of two very different moods here creates a rather patchy and uneven film that ultimately leaves viewers too uncertain of whether its gritty subject matter and themes are damned or actually being somewhat glorified to completely embrace it.

Movie Grade: B-