“A "tax collector" working for a local crime lord finds his family's safety compromised when the rival of his boss shows up in L.A. and upends the business.”

The Good

Written and directed by David Ayer, the man behind Training Day, End of Watch, and Suicide Squad, The Tax Collector is a crime thriller that was on my radar for quite some time. I’ve liked the majority of Ayers’ work, specifically the films I just mentioned, so I figured this should be more of the same.

Ayer sticks with what he knows, and focuses on style over substance, which is fine. The Tax Collector offers up an impressive blend of style, action, and brutal violence, making sure that most viewers are left satisfied. It almost has a Training Day feel to it as it relates to the complex relationship between the lead characters, played by Bobby Soto and my guy Shia LaBeouf. I’m not saying it’s on the same level, but it is another form of street justice filmmaking that focuses solely on the crime side of things. Humor is non-existent, helping to maintain the gritty feel necessary throughout. Soto and LaBeouf are able to develop solid on-screen chemistry as well.

And what is a crime thriller without a vicious and intimidating bad guy, which is exactly what we get with with Jose Conejo Martin, who plays the role of the maniac who decides to take over the powerful crime empire that employs Soto and LaBeouf, run by Soto’s uncle played by George Lopez. Ayer puts together some epic scenes that exemplify the psychotic tendencies of the primary villain, and they were easily my favorite parts of the film. A few of these scenes I decided to watch more than once which speaks to Ayer’s ability to add his trademark style to his films.

The Bad

Okay so what didn’t work, well first of all I think David Ayer was a bit too ambitious with The Tax Collector. He seemed to be going for a Training Day meets Sicario style film, which don’t get me wrong that would be an AMAZING combo, but he falls short for a few reasons. I mentioned before that the film is gritty and extremely violent, and it is, but my issue was that the acting doesn’t quite match up with the intensity of the film. For example, as things really start to heat up and you expect the cast to rise to the occasion, they instead fall short more often than not.

As much as I love LaBeouf, I had a hard time buying into his role as the “enforcer” for a powerful crime family. I mean I get it, he’s not supposed to be that physically imposing guy but instead someone that is downright crazy, but I was never fully sold. Overall though, I thought he did a really nice job in the film, it was just an interesting casting decision. Soto was strong pretty much throughout, but once things hit the fan and he had his back against the wall, he struggled to convince me that he was the ruthless character we were supposed to believe he had become. It’s unfortunate because some of the best scenes in the film were held back due to his lack of intensity. I do also feel like Ayer focused more on the style and action sequences of the film, which is often a tendency of his. The majority of the supporting cast was shaky as well.

The Verdict

A stylish crime thriller from writer/director David Ayer, The Tax Collector is an enjoyable thrill ride but fails to live up to its full potential. Recommended.