The Franc. Reyes modern-day thriller Illegal Tender is suspenseful, sure, but the action drama, set in the New York area and Puerto Rico, doesn't score any points in the plausibility realm. A single mother (Wanda De Jesus) tells her college-age son (Rick Gonzalez) that they must leave their suburban house immediately—though she never bothers to mention that the move is meant to avoid a team of assassins looking to settle a score that stems from her dead husband's sketchy past. This sets up a lengthy and somewhat convoluted story about a family's soured ties with the mob. The story wraps up with a clever plot twist at the end, but by then the whole thing feels buried under the weight of earlier flaws in the script.

On the whole, this John Singleton-produced film feels contrived, and I found some of the protagonists disagreeable and overwrought. That said, the film is stuffed with gun fights, graphic violence, and gratuitous sex that will clearly appeal to some. The cinematography, too, does much to capture Puerto Rico in a uniquely beautiful way.

The younger brother (Antonio Ortiz) you may recognize from Chappelle's Show, and he delivers a superb performance. Reggaeton king Tego Calderone is excellent in his acting debut as the drug lord's bodyguard, and he also contributes to what may be the film's strongest part—its soundtrack. The score includes songs from both Calderone and salsa king Willie Colon, among others, and they combine to create for a first-rate rendition of New York and Puerto Rico's club and street scenes. In the end though, even musicians of this caliber couldn't salvage the film.—Laurie Heifetz