The Tax Collector (2020) - Review

David Ayer’s latest and one of the few to survive 2020 with a cinematic release follows David Cuevas (Bobby Soto) and partner in crime, Creeper (Shia LaBeouf) as it details their usual business of collecting tax for high ranking LA Gangs until their business is disturbed by the emergence of a scorned, bitter enemy after revenge.

The Tax Collector Poster

Plot wise this does not reinvent the wheel by any means, though it does tap into Ayer’s more ‘indie’ roots last seen in End of Watch Cuevas and Creeper make up this films lead duo, a staple of Ayer writing and one evident from his early days as he hit stardom at the turn of the 21st century. Initially shot in 2018, the 95 minute feature was surprisingly fast paced and the pseudo ‘hang out movie’ sees the duo go about their business whilst dealing with a number of inconveniences that blight their daily dealings. Upon reflection, there are a few contrivances And the film is certainly generic but with the mix of Ayer’s direction and the cast (one star in particular) did enough with what little they had to work with. As a viewer, I felt as though the world was lived in, and to a relatively good degree, the gangs have a tangled web of rivalry and business which could’ve been fleshed our deeper but I’ll refrain from overly dragging one of the main positives. In all it crafts this ‘lived in’ world - there’s a diegetic history and without it, this would’ve been a far worse film.

Narrative out the way, the films main shining light is - unsurprisingly - Shia LaBeouf. I’ve spoke of his career renaissance and it’s arthouse revival when I wrote on Honey Boy and Ayer/LaBeouf’s latest collaboration delivers another performance to be heralded as the star takes a further step away from his screaming oddball persona of old as Creeper has a minimal amount of dialogue in trade off for a physical performance and foreboding on screen presence. Akin to his last performance under Ayer, LaBeouf doesn’t get much of the stage to shine but for what little he does get, manages to shine and especially in contrast to the supporting cast. With the former Evens Stevens star managing a successful turn as an ‘action star’. LaBeouf’s dedication shine through and in my eyes, the film would’ve been significantly better if he was the main character and took the role of ‘protector’ of his friend David and his family in what could’ve been a Quasi Hitman Adaptation If you will. Soto in one of his early feature film outings does fairly well and that classic David Ayer technique of a leading duo comes off as genuine, though I must stress the later incarnations where the film tries to organically recreate that initial partnership pale in comparison.

LaBeouf & Soto in Action

Another shining light in the film was action, and here I must stress that action however is usually as subjective as something such as comedy though the bar to reach is the Michael Mann classic: Heat (1995). There’s various analysis videos/video essays online that breakdown that film and a few highlight the sound design which was something I wasn’t expecting to be impressed by in The Tax Collector. Whilst they aren’t exactly comparable in a 1:1 sense, the film manages to really capture ‘the soundtrack to violence‘ perfectly - the action appears in bursts, in tight areas and it feels almost overwhelming, in a good sense. The environment plays a key sort and I found, in particular the sequence in which LaBeouf was taken hostage was white knuckle tense, even if the cross cutting is a little surreal. Not wanting to stray too far into an analysis ‘essay’ type of piece, but the choreography is also stellar - managing time be really presentable and translate well to camera. Linked to this is effects work, from what’s noticeable all seemed practical and grounded, adding this hire factor and compounding the violence/action giving this gritty tone and selling the atmosphere that Ayer and the film were so desperately trying to craft.

Now there are a few negatives in regard to this film, I think in a sense they’ve been perpetuated by the current state of the industry and the lack of new releases so it’s perhaps more harshly been scrutinised but it doesn’t remove some of the validity to these claims. I mentioned earlier how the supporting cast were largely poor in terms of performance and I think it’s fair, there’s a distinct lack of balance amongst the support in terms of characterisation, it’s a sea of mediocrity which is a shame as the support, if they had a little more quality, would’ve made this a better film. On the whole though, I found the writing to be the main issue, another penned solely by Ayer, at this stage he would benefit massively from a writing partner or someone to bounce off to try and recapture that success he garnered in his early career ‘glory days’. Penning both Training Day & the first Fast and Furious Film, both in the year of 2001, it’s clear Ayer has got a talent but it could be argued that the crew and cast involved in them have as much responsibility for the success. Regardless though, a lot of Ayer’s writing DNA is evident and then some, it feels a bit of an amalgamation of many of his projects, having bits and pieces from a number of titles he’s been involved in, I’d argue he writes with directing in mind but didn’t really have much of a directorial style until recently at least. I think it’s a common case though not usually that high profile, The Tax Collector however feels a bit void, the blame can’t be squarely placed at Ayer as he’s shown he’s capable in the past, see End of Watch & Fury which have a balance of fan goodwill and good critical reception but one can’t help but feel he’s out to recapture success of old whilst falling short. I appreciate the tales Ayer has to tell but here it didn’t quite know what it wanted to be, he’s had his fingers burnt by mainstream Hollywood a number of times so adopts for a more ‘indie’ approach but doesn’t quite land it, especially with its bait for a possible sequel/franchise.

In all however, I am largely positive upon this film and there are a lot of positives to take from it, be that cast and performances (for the most part), the effects, action or atmosphere, The Tax Collector is a perfectly serviceable film and one I would recommend having been lucky enough to catch it myself. At times a little generic and yearning for past highs, it’s one I’d urge you to put on your ‘immediate watchlist’ during these uncertain times as it’s a nice escapist treat into a world, or more fittingly underworld, full of tense entertainment.