The trailer for David Ayer‘s new movie The Tax Collector is now online and you can watch it above! The film stars Bobby Soto (Narcos: Mexico) and Shia LaBeouf as David and “Creeper” (respectively), two “Tax Collectors” for a crimeboss named “Wizard.” That job requires David and Creeper to engage in the hazardous practice of collecting Wizard’s money “from the profits of local gangs. But when Wizard’s old rival returns to Los Angeles from Mexico, his entire business is upended, and David finds himself desperate to protect what matters most to him — his family.” Basically, it’s your classic David Ayer hard-boiled urban crime action.
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As you can see, The Tax Collector will be a very dark ride into the sub-world of Los Angeles gang culture, in its many forms. The real draw in the footage is no doubt Shia LaBeouf’s “Creeper” character, who looks like he will be the charismatic center of the film, and the foil to Bobby Sotos more dramatic character arc. Ayer is making great use of Shia’s signature manic energy, and this looks like it could another successful comeback step for the actor, following his intensely personal Honey Boy biopic, which earned major awards season acclaim this past year.
Before David Ayer earned infamy for directing DC’s Suicide Squad, this was the type of the film that gained him major acclaim in the first place. After getting his start penning a war drama (U-571), Ayer hit his niche between his urban crime themes and studio success, co-writing The Fast and the Furious and S.W.A.T. in the early 2000s. He would then receive acclaim for penning “bad cop” films like Dark Blue with Kurt Russell, as well as the Oscar-winning Training Day with Denzel Washington, which fully opened Hollywood’s doors to Ayer’s unique signature of urban action/crime drama.
Ayer got his chance to get behind the camera with the 2005 Christian Bale film “bad cop” film Harsh Times, which led to the found-footage cop film End of Watch, the Arnold Schwarzenegger cop-thriller Sabotage, and a brief return to war drama with the WWII tank drama Fury – which is where Ayer first worked with Shia LaBeouf. After that, Suicide Squad and Netflix’s Bright put Ayer on a much bigger level of Hollywood visibility – despite the movie’s many problems and criticisms. In many ways, The Tax Collector looks David Ayer trying to get back to his original love and passion for the types of films he truly likes to make.
Meanwhile, DC fans are still pushing hard to get the “Ayer Cut” of Suicide Squad released on HBO Max. No date yet on when The Tax Collector will be released.
