The Tax Collector is the latest film from writer/director, David Ayer, serving as a sort of back-to-basics following his two massive projects, Suicide Squad and Bright. It follows David (Bobby Soto), who works as a “tax collector” for a crime lord, Wizard, who is currently serving time in prison, but still fully operating his organization. With his best friend, Creeper (Shia LaBeouf), they collect their cut from local dealings. However, things quickly turn upside down when Conejo (Jose Conejo Martin), a former rival, enters Los Angeles after years of exile in Mexico, and tries to take control of things for himself, putting David and his family in danger.
Like I mentioned, this is a fairly modest film that comes after Ayer has made the two biggest films in his career, both of which also happen to be his weakest, in my opinion. The Tax Collector brings the scale back down, digging back into his roots as a filmmaker that largely explores the relationship between men who are often too stubbornly devoted to their toxic and violent tendencies until their lifestyle begins to bite them. It even has a chunk where we just follow the day-to-day activities that David and Creeper experience in their work similar to some of Ayer’s previous movies.
Basically, the film is mostly Ayer’s greatest hits, and for folks who are less forgiving of his hypermasculine sensibilities, that can definitely be a negative. As someone who has largely considered him a fairly compelling filmmaker, even if his filmography isn’t the most consistent, I found The Tax Collector to be an engaging watch. I find his obsession with finding humanity in even the most scummy characters to be interesting, and he doesn’t shy away from the challenges of getting an audience to empathize with these kinds of people and their moral quandaries.
Where the film works best is whenever it delves into the minutiae of David’s day-to-day experiences with Creeper. Their banter is entertaining, and it’s interesting to see how they confront the various situations and people during their work. Sometimes its easy and smooth, and sometimes it calls for Creeper to do his thing. The mechanics of how Wizard runs his business is fascinating to watch, the way the money is passed from person to person, the way he sends out messages from prison, and navigating the politics of operating alongside other gangs, which comes into play in an unexpected way in the final act.
The performances are really solid across the board. Soto carries himself with a lot of swagger that is later brought down to Earth when Conejo brings his wrath to the streets, and his emotional transformation is believable, especially in relation to his bonds with his wife, Alexis (Cinthya Carmona), as well as Creeper. LaBeouf is not as big a presence as the marketing might lead you to believe, but he brings a sinister presence that contrasts well with his camaraderie with Soto. Other supporting players like Martin, Carmona, George Lopez, Cheyenne Rae Hernandez, Lana Parrilla, among several more, do bring strong work with the screen time they get, further selling the world that they inhabit. I will say, however, that Shia LaBeouf looks so much like David Ayer in this that it’s kind of distracting. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.
Ultimately, The Tax Collector doesn’t add up to all that much, especially compared to David Ayer’s more successful attempts at exploring similar themes and motifs. I also don’t think the ending is anywhere near as profound as the film might think it is. However, while it doesn’t do much all that new, I still found it to be a fairly effective piece. As an action drama, I was invested in the characters, its bursts of violence are appropriately gnarly and unflinching, and the details of its characters and world rung true to me. Ayer often utilizes his experiences living in South Central LA for his films and it certainly shows, though the line he rides between authentically exploring Latinx culture and exploitation that culture is definitely a conversation worth having, and it’s one that I don’t feel especially equipped to tackle; there are plenty of wonderful Latinx film critics who will probably bring some insight into that specific angle. As for the film itself, it’s very much business as usual for him, and if his particular brand of slime and grime is your kinda thing, then this it is worth your time, but it’s definitely not going to win over anyone who isn’t already on board.
The Tax Collector will open in select theaters and VOD platforms on August 7th.