Film Review: Taxman (1998)

11 months ago

(source: tmdb.org)

Whether the taxes are necessary for functioning of modern civilisation or not, those who collect them are among the least popular categories of people and, consequently, least likely to be featured as film protagonists. One of those extremely rare examples is provided by Taxman, 1998 crime thriller directed by Avi Nesher. Al Benjamin (played by Joe Pantoliano) is New York State tax investigator who is completely dedicated to his job, willing to look into affairs most of his colleagues could or would not. Series of brutal killings of people connected to Russian mob in New York City catches his interest and he begins to investigate, despite the lack of support from his superiors. He crosses path with Joseph Romero (played by Wade Dominguez), young NYPD detective who also has issues with his superiors and who is given the thankless job of investigating Russian mob only because he happens to speak Russian. Two men begin to cooperate and slowly reveal the complicated but lucrative scheme that involves major oil company and gas station that bring their owners tens of millions of dollars. The key to providing such evidence might be Nadia Rubikov (played by Elizabeth Berkley), young woman whose father Andre Rubikov (played by Michael Chiklis) is a Russian mobster involved in similar, but much smaller operation which turned him into a target by his larger and more ruthless competitors.

Co-author of the script for Taxman was Roger Berger, real life New York State tax inspector whose investigations involved tax evasion and fraudulent activities by organised crime, major corporations and celebrities. His exploits caught interest of Israeli film maker Avi Nesher, who decided to make a feature film about tax inspector based on Berger himself. Interesting idea of having a rather unremarkable civil servant going against Russian mafia was supplemented with the plot that deals with seemingly unattractive and less filmable phenomenon of white collar crime. Nesher and Berger’s script doesn’t live to its potential and often has to rely on more conventional material like action scenes and “buddy buddy” pairing of middle-aged Joe Pantoliano and young Wade Dominguez (who tragically died soon after finishing this film). What makes this film watchable and ultimately enjoyable is Nesher’s solid direction and spirited cast, especially formidable character actor Michael Chiklis who delivers a sympathetic portrayal of Russian mobster.

RATING: 5/10 (++)