The hero of David Ayer’s The Tax Collector, also conveniently named David, does just the right amount of heroic things to reach the end of his heroic quest. If you ever doubt that David is our hero, you need only reference the amount of times he prays to God. It’s a lot — and, really, all a person ever needs to validate a day of violently intimidating clients into paying for protection.
Between being an amazing husband and securing a dress for his daughter’s quinceañera, David (Bobby Soto, A Better Life), along with his ride-or-die Creeper (Shia LaBeouf), runs collections for his uncle, Luis (comedian George Lopez), the kingpin of LA’s Latinx underworld. David’s truest “save the cat” moment is in the unwritten acknowledgment that he hasn’t got the heart to tell his lifelong friend Creeper that he’s not Latino. Ditto for the film’s casting department with LaBeouf.
But every hero needs a villain, and ours is a doozy! Not only does he love keeping severed heads in Lil Oscar coolers, he also practices the ancient black art of Santeria. (Didn’t see no crystal ball, though.) It’s an honest-to-goodness literal allegory of good vs. evil!
Conejo, played by LA rapper Conejo (is there an echo in here?), is back stateside after a long hiatus and ready to enact revenge on Luis — and his little nephew, too! What comes next is trope after trope of pretty forgettable cinema. You’ve seen this story time and again, but usually with white people. (Like, always white people.)
So, for all its shortcomings and terrible writing, one-dimensional characters and shoehorned plot points, the only thing that I can say in this movie’s favor is that B-movies need equal representation, too. And I truly believe that. So, before you go popping in The Room for the hundredth time, think about the last time you had to read subtitles for 10% of a movie. This is your moment. Or you could watch a real classic like Blood In Blood Out instead.
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