Tijuana Jackson: Purpose Over Prison

2020 • 96 minutes

About this movie

A laugh out loud comedy about an ex-convict, Just released from prison and placed on probation, Tijuana Jackson (Romany Malco) sets out to fulfill his dream of becoming a world renowned motivational speaker, but fails to comply with strict orders from his no-nonsense probation officer (Regina Hall). And with his sister Sharea (Tami Roman) needing TJ to be a better role model for her son Lil' Eric (Alkoya Brunson), his mother (lyne Odums) needing him to help out more around the house, and a student camera crew following him around everywhere he goes, it's just a matter of time before TJ gets himself into trouble again. Chasing a life changing opportunity, he violates his parole, flees his jurisdiction, abandoning his family and community in the process. Facing more jail time and cut off from the only support system he's ever had, TJ must master the art of achieving selfless success through serving his community or fail miserably serving time.

Ratings and reviews

This movie is a "Must See" ! It gives you a comical view into the life of Tijuana Jackson, as well as showing the disconnect between a sentence in prison served and life on the outside. This movie spotlights how that individual must elevate their mind in order to be truly released from the prison mentality, let a lone a cell! Thank you Romany Malco for your time served.

This was a great first effort from Romany Malco. Many of us have been following his independent film journey with the "Tijuana Jackson" character for a minute. He has definitely developed the character and found actors with whom he has a natural rapport. There are so many "hidden jokes" in the film that it's worth watching again. Many people might not like the type of humor in the film. It's an acquired taste. You have to know people like Tijuana to understand where he's coming from. Still, Romany wants people to focus more on WHY the film was made and not just WHAT it's about. We must humanize our American prisoners because many of them are wrongfully convicted. If they receive a second chance, they can do good for society.

This is a great movie with a wonderful storyline of family and second and third chances in life. It's a heart felt movie. It made me laugh, cry and think and it was refreshing to see. The cast gelled really well together and the writing was top of the line. We all have a little Tijuana Jackson in us all. Well done. I will be watching this move again this weekend!