User Reviews

It's a David Ayer film which generally means it may have interesting ideas, but an uneven execution. It has a gritty, but well -produced look. And yes, it really doesn't deserve a 4.8 IMDB rating and overall critical disdain.

The stand - out performer is Shia LaBeouf, who succeeds in creating a surprisingly convincing and threatening presence as tax collection enforcer Creeper, who unfortunately for the movie's success is not the lead character. He plays second banana and loyal off - sider to his lifelong friend David (Bobby Soto), who despite being the ostensible lead, is simply not as arresting a character. Why LaBeouf was nominated for a Razzie for this role, I'll never know? He's the best thing The Tax Collector has going for it. Interestingly the film also boasts another good, but criminally (pardon the pun) under - utilised cameo from a near, unrecognisable Jimmy Smits as "Wizard" Cuevas, an imprisoned Mexican Mafia crime lord, who features in a largely unneeded late narrative twist.

The Tax Collector like many of Ayer's films is certainly not faultless. But I found the focus on LA gangs, especially those of Mexican origin, combined with an associated observation of urban Mexican culture, nevertheless quite compelling.

Some parts of this movie feel very weak and poorly directed. All that said it's violent with some good twists and turns. If you like violent gangster movies you will probably think this is decent enough. It's better than a lot of other crap out there.

This movie has potential but everything goes to heck because of the extremely bad script. First, you need to wait almost 60 minutes of 90 to see something interesting. Second, when the action starts everything goes extremely fast. Shia's character was barely developed. Are you serious? Last, Fx's look cheap and acting amateurish, except from Shia. But...

So, overall a wasted opportunity to create a great movie. Shame on Director 's and writers. Make yourself a favor and watch Sicario 1 and 2 instead watching this one.

Shia did great, but he wasnt the main character.

The acting by David could have been better, it almost seemed like he was reading off of cue cards in some scenes.

And the girl who played the wife Alexis... her lips are so full of filler and it was so distracting during the movie! Her and David are supposed to have a passionate marriage, so they kiss a lot. There are a lot of close ups of the married couple- and all I could focus on was her lips full of filler. Jesus.

Best part of this movie, the trailer. pretty funny he got real tattoos for this role for as bad as the movie was.

So much hate for this movie, for no reason. I had a good time. Shea was pretty damn good in this and I've never been a huge fan of his. If you enjoy David Ayers films, then ignore the hate and just give it a try.

Weak plot, weak writing. Very messy. Great actors but let down by the poor story.

I appreciated the effort to make the movie more "realistic". Plus Shia LaBeouf as Creeper was hilarious.

Thinking it was going to be a badass gangster movie instead turn out to be boring and just bad cinema.

Granted it isn't going to win any awards but some of the reviews were straight up brutal - especially people who wouldn't like this kind of movie anyway and you can tell by their reviews.

This was something half way decent to watch while waiting for some good movies to come back around. I gave it an extra star just because I thought it needed a little push.

I really wanted to like this even more, but it just feels so uneven. There are many things that I do like about this (outside of the over the top performance by Shia that is). But there are also many things that while I understand, they just don't work as well as the movie thinks they do - like the help towards the end of the movie. It is set up in a way during the movie, but it still feels ... detached from it.

The movie is quite hellbent on displaying violence. The really gruesome things are mostly not shown up close. There is one scene though that ... well some would say is in your face - pun very much intended.

Not sure how much you can connect with the main character (not Shia, he's the sidekick of sorts). Depending on that, will determine how invested you'll be. Not a bad movie by a long shot, just not as mad and good as I expected it to be.

It's a bit like a film student and a few extras had an afternoon off, and played with a camera .

The story couldn't be more basic, acting and dialogues are cringeworthy, never credible, just very amateurish .

I couldn't finish this movie. Everything about the movie was trying so hard to be cool and badass. The acting and dialogue from LaBeouf and Soto was embarrassing to watch. I finally turned it of at one point where a 'scary' boss asks to speak to his underling and proceeds to quietly laugh into the phone before hanging up. Very intimidating... and cringe worthy. You'll see what I mean if you make it that far into this garbage. I'll be very impressed if you make it to the end.

So the movie starts off interesting, with both characters equally important in their own ways, however, is suddenly turns into a hodgepodge of scenes. I don't really know if it was edited this way purposely or not, but many scenes seems like to time had passed by. It really distracted me from finding the movie interesting anymore and I ended up fast-forwarding until the end.

It's generic. I thought it would be better. The women in the movie are beautiful. The story is generic. It's every hood movie ever made. I've been drinking and couldn't even get into it. Nothing stands out and makes it special. It's just a movie.

If you like gangster movies and you want to watch one that doesn't follow the same story as every single other one you'll like it. It made me laugh and made me say, "Oh s$@t" a couple times.

This could've easily been one of the best crime films in a long time - up there with Sicario, if only with a little more effort. But experienced writer and director David Ayer failed miserably with his screenplay on what could've and should've been. I've seen amateur writers have tighter, more fluid, and logical screenplays. And it's a shame, because it really didn't need that much effort to fix. A few adjustments here and there, and/or better editing. Everything else was perfection.

Casting and performances - especially LaBeouf, were so convincing, you felt it. Cinematography and score were flawless. Even Ayer's directing was decent, although the "good" scenes needed more/better/longer takes. But Geoffrey O'Brien's editing was horrible, and with the convoluted choppy screenplay, is what failed this film.

I can't stand long films, especially when the story drags out, but I was left begging this screenplay had more much needed content and clarity in it, without taking out any of the current scenes. Another 20 mins added to the current 95 min runtime would have complimented and completed this little gem. Such a waste of everything else that was perfect.

Nevertheless, I am still shocked by the low ratings and bad reviews. I can only subtract 2 stars out of 10 for the horrible editing and lacking screenplay, because this could've easily been a perfect 10/10. So sadly, best it deserves is 8/10, because even with it's flaws, it's still one of the better films I've seen in a long time.

The Tax Collector has an extremely familiar and unoriginal plot but is still a good crime drama overall. Bobby Soto is mostly great, if a little wooden at times and he has sufficient chemistry with Shia LaBeouf who is reliably great if a little underutilized. David Ayer's direction is good and reasonably stylish, although it can occasionally look cheap in the more action packed sequences. The soundtrack and the music by Michael Yezerski are both good.

Some good bits which were watchable The main problem is that the 2 main actors just mumble all their lines, and I had to watch the movie with subtitles.

This movie is poorly made. There isnt any character development. Bobby Soto is not a lead actor. Una mierda Una mierda Una mierda I havent finished the movie and had to write its una mierda

Arguably.....one of the worst movies ever. So bad actually.....that I watched the whole movie, just to see how badly it would end. It was worse.