The Tax Collector (2020).
The Tax Collector is the newest film from David Ayer, starring Bobby Soto as David, Cinthya Carmona as his wife Alexis, and Shia Labeouf as his partner Creeper. Most of the film follows David and Creeper as they collect ‘taxes’ for the biggest gangster in south central Los Angeles until a new crew starts muscling in on their territory.
I’ve defended David Ayer films in the past - I think that Training Day (which he wrote), End of Watch, and Fury are all brilliant. I also think there are good movies hiding in Sabotage and Suicide Squad, which I believe were both casualties of studio meddling (p.s., I’m still looking for Skip Wood’s original script for Sabotage, back when it was called Ten or Breacher). That being said, I don’t see any studio meddling here - I just see a weak script that turns into an uninteresting movie with some baffling decisions.
“If your tab's short, go rob a bank! Rob your own mother! There's no excuses!”
- David
From this point on, I’m spoiling things. You’ve been warned, even though I don’t recommend watching the film.
Shia Labeouf is the best thing about this film as Creeper. He’s got some interesting nuances to his character and generally looks really great. In fact, the best parts of this film are when he and David are just driving around, shooting the shit. Creeper actually feels like a real person, one with interests and priorities unrelated to his work, unlike the other stock cut and paste characters here. The problem is, Creeper is built up for an hour as being this badass with no conscience. One who can snap and kill a whole family if the task calls for it. One who sparks fear into the hearts of men. We know this because we’re…told this. Unfortunately, we never see it. When the shit hits the fan, Creeper is captured and killed, and once he leaves, my interest in the movie left with him.
“I'll ride with you till the wheels fall off!”
- Creeper
I’m unfamiliar with Bobby Soto’s work, and I’m sure he’s a fine actor, but in this film he’s charisma free. I think the film could have been a lot better with some more personality in this role - an Oscar Isaac or even a Michael Pena could have elevated the material (which in Soto’s defense, is weak to begin with). Family this, family that, it’s like David belongs in a Fast & Furious movie. We get it, he likes his wife and kids. We also get that he’s a ‘good guy’ (he’s not), because the leader of the neighborhood Bloods gang keeps telling us and his men every fucking five minutes he’s on screen.
Speaking of the Bloods leader, that whole subplot makes absolutely no sense. He and David have a respect for one another, but at one point, once David’s kids are kidnapped, the Bloods leader (along with a few of his men) decide to go on a suicide mission to get them back…for no real reason other than ‘he’s a good guy’. I’d have believed it if he paid them to help him using the money that was inexplicably buried in the backyard - that would have made more sense. The way they get his kids back is unbelievably quick and stupid as well. There’s some martial arts stuff we see that never comes back into play (even when it probably should have) There’s a corny scene featuring a really bad dude tickity-tapping his keyboard on a stock website like he’s some kind of financial mastermind. Oh, and there’s a truckload of forced “hey, look at these religious parallels” slapping you in the face at every turn.
“Uh…what?”
- Me
It’s really disappointing because I really liked the first half of this movie, and then it turns into complete shit. Everything in the second half feels rushed and overly convenient, nothing feels earned. Give me a Creeper prequel where we see him rob the armored car, where we see him being a badass, where we see the actual chest tattoo that Labeouf got for this film. You want to see some badass cartel stuff? Go watch Sicario instead.
