The Tax Collector | David Ayer | August 7, 2020
David Ayer has had a tough go of it of late, with his latest films Suicide Squad and Bright failing to match the expectations based on his earlier material. The director has a thing for gritty, violent films based in Los Angeles and he continues this trend with his new film The Tax Collector.
Most of the film is spent seeing David (Bobby Soto) being driven around town by his second in command, Creeper (Shia LaBeouf). David is the titular “Tax Collector” working for a crime lord who collects all that is owed to them and gets a little protection from Creeper, who is known as a crazy violent force eager for bloodshed.
Things change quickly for them when Conejo (Jose Conejo Martin), an old rival of the family suddenly returns and makes their life a living hell. David is forced to make hard choices and try to protect his wife, Alexis (Cinthya Carmona), and their two kids.
Ayer has proven that he can write a good script (his credits include Training Day, after all), but The Tax Collector is anything but that. This is a story that you have seen done plenty before. There is nothing wrong with that if you deliver it in a muscular fashion that works regardless. But The Tax Collector is made without any narrative heft and just goes through the expected motions without anything new or inventive to surprise you with many of its choices feeling cliche and routine.
The main issue is that the character of David is not one that you form any connection to or emotional investment in. Soto lacks a true leading man’s presence here, constantly upended by the performance of LaBeouf who feels like a genuine character. Sadly, LaBeouf surprisingly has very little screentime, feeling utterly wasted. When he’s not on screen, it’s like the scales are tipped in the other direction and it never quite recovers.
The Tax Collector tries to capture this seedy underbelly side of Los Angeles with a dark murky look. But this just makes it feel like a cheap VOD release that isn’t helped by the lack of a gripping narrative or any true emotional arcs. We are supposed to care about David and the protection of his family, but we don’t get to spend enough time with any of them to form this connection.
Ayer used shocking graphic violence and hard-R language well in films like Fury and End Of Watch, but here it just feels used for pure shock value rather than anything meaningful. Sure, there are some cool bursts of violence, and actors such as Martin and Cheyenne Rae Hernandez seem to be having fun and connecting to their roles. It was also fun to see George Lopez play against type as David’s Uncle Louis. Meanwhile, the scenes with David’s wife and family feel too melodramatic and it’s this contrast that makes the film feel like it’s going for two different things, neither of them particularly well.
Ayer is a filmmaker who has proven plenty of times that he can craft a great film. Sadly, The Tax Collector is his third straight misfire (at least in my opinion) and is a bit of a cause for concern. But I hope he can find a way to make his next film the sort of effort that he’s built his reputation on because this film surely isn’t it.
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