Last year’s pawn shop acquisition of Dark Blue was almost enough to call for a reevaluation of David Ayers’ screenplays. His violent professional friendships, and the profane musings that entail between passenger and driver never were my bag — better a twentieth viewing of Walter Hill’s (em>48 Hrs. than a second appraisal of Training Day — but the advance word on this led with “unwatchable,” so here I am. David Cuevas (Bobby Soto) is a juice man for the mob, loved by his family, but not feared enough by his enemies. That explains the rapport between David and co-collection agent Creeper (Shia LaBeouf), an exsanguinous enforcer who instills enough fear in their victims for the both of them. Once professional movie stars LaBeouf and George Lopez are written out of the script, it’s strictly amateur night, with Soto not strong enough to carry the picture. And if exploitation is the desired end result, why cloak it in a mist of social significance that, when dissipated, has nothing to show for itself short of a pile of bloody corpses, pointlessly added to shock enlightenment into today’s jaded viewers?. (2020) — Scott Marks
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