Welcome to another edition of the “The Valero Verdict” movie review. In this, I will give you a quick movie review with a couple of bullet points of which I either liked or disliked. I will end the review with a rating of the movie and short overall thoughts.

On the docket today, the Shia Labeouf led film, Tax Collector

A “tax collector” for a crime lord finds his family’s safety compromised when his boss’ old rival shows up in LA and upends his business.

I think a lot of people get caught up in the entire Suicide Squad being good or bad and forget that Ayer wrote gems like Training Day, S.W.A.T, and one of my favorites End of Watch. So heading into this movie, my expectations were rather high for the film.

The beginning of the film does a solid job of letting us know that David (Bobby Soto) is the king, and Creeper (Shia LaBeouf) is his right-hand man, and they ride around town together showcasing just that. Between collecting their ‘dues’ and laying down the law, we noticed Creeper (who strangely looks like a member of Men in Black) is the ‘Tax Collector’.

Ayer has a knack for this style of the film, which I like. He does a good job of laying out the background of his story and presenting it in a way that reels you in.

As we move into the second act, the film starts to lose its footing. The tide turns as we start to see this pivotal moment, which you see coming from a mile away, and from here, it was just disappointing. We see our first real action of the film, and it was extremely lackluster.

However, when we reach the final stretch of the movie, the story starts to unfold more, and while the score here is remarkable, the actions within this are dreadful. A ton of this makes zero sense, they forced some situations that were unbearable to watch, and I LOATHED a way they handled a certain death.

Coming full circle, Ayer made this a personal journey throughout the film, showing the importance of family. We strive for our fathers, our family’s approval in what we are doing, and its important to have that stamp of approval. Inheriting this massive operation from his father was David’s downfall, and we saw it play out continuously throughout the movie.

The Verdict:

The Tax Collector underwhelms hugely. I was hoping to love this and came away disappointed.

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