Illegal Tender

About halfway into writer-director Franc Reyes' ludicrous melodrama, Millie DeLeon (Wanda De Jesus) rushes out the front door of her suburban home with a pistol in each hand, shouting at the hit-men who've come to wipe out her and her two sons to “bring it on!” Millie is suddenly a Puerto Rican version of Pam Grier's ‘70s blaxploitation hot chick; unfortunately, however, this is no tongue-in-cheek sendup. At the center of the story is Millie's brooding 21-year-old son Wilson (Rick Gonzalez), a star student who has apparently never figured out just how he and his little bro have been kept in upper-middle-class luxury by his single mom. But a chance meeting with an old enemy prompts Millie to reveal that the family has been living on a couple million bucks she stole two decades earlier from her drug-dealing husband's killers. The balance of the film charts Wilson's singularly inept effort to negotiate a truce between his family and the crooks who are demanding their money back, culminating in a series of hilariously overwrought confrontations. At about the 80-minute mark, after a particularly bloody contretemps, Millie weeps, “Oh God, I want this to end!” So will you. Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include a 21-minute “making-of” featurette, nine minutes of deleted scenes, the music video “Dame Dame” performed by Que No, a behind-the-scenes featurette on the music video (3 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a ludicrous film.] (F. Swietek)