A Working Man

For full disclosure, this was the third film I watched at the cinema and having already sat through "A Minecraft Movie" I was flagging. A film this perfunctory and pedestrian was not what I was hoping for.

Levon Cade (Jason Statham) is an ex-Royal Marines commando, now working construction for the Garcia family. When their daughter, Jenny (Arianna Rivas) is kidnapped from a bar, Cade decides to rescue her. His quest takes him from low level drug dealers, all the way up to Russian mafia bosses, as he kills his way closer to his goal.

The problem is, whilst there's nothing particularly wrong with "A Working Man" there's also nothing particularly good, or perhaps better said, nothing particularly interesting about the film either. It feels like it's made on autopilot with a staid 'kill your way to the top' storyline and mostly rote characters. I say mostly because, as you might imagine, David Harbour is capable of making something relatively interesting out of a supporting role as a blind solder, who served with Cade, and helps him on his mission.

I wasn't surprised to see that the film was made in the UK. Jason Flemyng is particularly unconvincing and massively underused as a Russian mobster, you have Emmett Scanlan is a fairly major role and there is a key turn for British TV stalwart Kenneth Collard. Perhaps the most depressing aspect of the film is that David Ayer now seems to have settled into a rut of mid-price, mid-ambition, mid-quality action films.

Again, doesn't do anything notably bad - but less than 24 hours later and I can already barely remember it.

If it says Statham on the outside, it's Statham inside. Minor inconsistencies are acceptable. It's always a joy to see him fire about 200 bullets from a 20-round magazine. And of course, he's invulnerable. I almost forgot. 😉. Very much in vogue: a young, smart and powerful woman who was placed at his side so that the male audience wouldn't fall asleep.

The only thing missing was for him to catch the flying bullets with his teeth. So, for a possible second part, one could add more. For the faint-hearted, the film exudes a fair amount of cultural pessimism. The theme of "I scare you, and then I'm the hero who saves you" is inherent in American films. As such, the plot is rather one-dimensional and not for people who prefer a more complex way of thinking. Nevertheless, we felt thoroughly entertained at the end of the film and deeply impressed by the many close-ups of Statham's heroic face.

I have a particular set of skills and sitting through this movie is not one of them. This movie tried so hard to emulate others of a genre, the classic revenge flick.... but fails miserabl. I didn't find myself attached to any character or empathetic, sympathetic, or even just rooting for anyone at any given moment including the star of the movie. The pacing is too slow. The action is almost comical. I'm guessing it was meant to be that way, but unlike DC movies that pull it off this was just laughable... I was so disinterested that even by the climactic end it was just going through the paces to see who lives and who dies. Hollywood forgets that great writing makes great movies.... and the writing for this was juvenile, not creative and simply not entertaining... I had higher hopes for something written by and produced by Sylvester Stallone, who knows action movies.

Levon Cade (Jason Statham) is a working man. He is ex-British military. His wife committed suicide while he was away on duty. He is now struggling to raise their daughter. He works construction for the beloved Garcia family. One night, Jenny Garcia gets kidnapped while out at a bar with her friends. Levon takes on the Russian mob to find her.

Jason Statham is well within his comfort zone in this action B-movie. The action is fun. The production is pretty good and better than the average B-movie. The story is fine. Jenny should probably be Levon's daughter instead. The villains are comic-book adjacent. They should really stop asking, "Why he's doing this for one girl?" It gets annoying and dumb. I thought he should leave those missing person flyers every time he kills a gangster. This is mostly fine for what it is.

"The Beekeeper" was a film I thought would be hilariously bad. Instead, it subverted my expectations by being a fun, solid actioner. Even on rewatch in preparation for "A Working Man," it hasn't lost its sharp edge. I also consider Jason Statham among my Top 2 favorite action stars alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme. Unfortunately, as a Statham fan, I was disappointed, but it may work for you. My criticisms may be your highlights, hopefully.

Even in a mediocre film, Jason Statham always clocks into work, and Levon Cade is no exception. Whether it's his superb fighting skills or his ability to make weak dialogue sound 100 times better, and I'll get to the screenplay, Statham never manages to underdeliver.

Next, while not as fun or as present as "The Beekeeper," the action was (mostly) enjoyable. That can be because of Statham and the solid directing from David Ayer. Many of the action scenes were riveting, and one motorcycle chase scene is one I'll likely remember.

Outside of that, some lines of dialogue were funny and powerful, Shawn White's cinematography was great, and, as I said, David Ayer does a strong job directing-wise.

As much as I wanted to like it, there are too many flaws that I can't overlook.

To start, the screenplay from David Ayer and Sylvester Stallone was weak. If I had any concerns beforehand, Stallone was one of them. He's far from a bad writer, penning the scripts of installments in The Expendables and Rambo franchises. However, I feared that this film would parallel some of their plot points, and they do, especially "Rambo: Last Blood," given that Cade must save his boss's daughter from human traffickers. Aside from the action in the final act, I don't like that franchise closer, but "A Working Man" is better.

The screenplay creates a story I didn't get invested in. Maybe it's because of familiarity, but "The Beekeeper" wasn't entirely original either, so I'm okay with a generic Statham movie. This narrative was too much for me, though.

Finally, it's possible that "The Beekeeper" set my expectations, but regardless, this film was way too serious for its good. Again, it revolves around human trafficking, and they would take it seriously, I get it. It has many moments that try to be comedic as if to indicate that it'd balance the subject matter with the Jason Statham entertainment people like myself expected, not just exclusive to that prior Statham/Ayer offering. Ironically, one of my issues with "The Beekeeper" is the seriousness present, but it mixed the topics of scamming elders with exhilarating action better than this follow-up.

Overall, "A Working Man" was Taken Lite meets Rambo Raw, not the unofficial sequel to "The Beekeeper" I hoped it'd be. Then again, they announced that sequel weeks earlier, and I'm incredibly excited to see what they do. As much as I can't forgive the issues, I understand you may be able to. If The Expendables and Rambo are your thing, even their weaker installments, you'll enjoy your time here.

Technically, the screenplay holds it back, but the acting, directing, and cinematography make the technical score a 6/10.

For the enjoyment score, there's potential for a 7/10 experience if you can ignore the issues I discussed in this review. Otherwise, a 5/10 enjoyment score will more or less be the result. It was a disappointing day at the office, but the action may justify going to the theaters!