A Working Man, 2025.
Directed by David Ayer.
Starring Jason Statham, David Harbour, Michael Peña, Jason Flemyng, Arianna Rivas, Noemi Gonzalez, Emmett Scanlan, Eve Mauro, Maximilian Osinski, Kristina Poli, Andrej Kaminsky, Isla Gie, Chidi Ajufo, Alana Boden, Sophie-Louise Craig, David Witts, Daniel Lundh, Piotr Witkowski, Andrea Vasiliou, Greg Kolpakchi, Neil Bishop, Jose Conejo Martin, Eddie J. Fernandez, Cokey Falkow, Benjamin Schnau, Jade Coatsworth, Joanna DeLane, Priyasasha Kumari, Muki Zubis, Max Croes, and C.C. DeNeira.
SYNOPSIS:
Levon Cade left his profession behind to work construction and be a good dad to his daughter. But when a local girl vanishes, he’s asked to return to the skills that made him a mythic figure in the shadowy world of counter-terrorism.
It’s almost impressive how quickly director David Ayer (co-writing alongside Sylvester Stallone) drops any component or gimmick that would set A Working Man apart from the wholly generic actioner it becomes. It stars Jason Statham as former British soldier turned American family man construction worker Levon Cade, still sharp enough to turn every object around him within that hazardous environment into a weapon should such a situation arise. And while the character indeed remains resourceful in a fight away from a construction site, that is surprisingly one minor kerfuffle. It’s akin to if their recent collaboration, The Beekeeper, dropped all the bee puns and its respective mercenary organization 20 minutes into the movie to settle into something less inspired and more ordinary. Instead, this is far too serious and forgets what made their previous collaboration a blast.
There is also a feeling that the story is going for a personal edge with Levon, regularly pushed away from seeing his young daughter by her grandfather, with him accused of being responsible for that girl’s mother dying of suicide while he was on a military tour. It’s not long before 19-year-old Jenny (Arianna Rivas), the daughter of his boss Joe Garcia (Michael Peña) is kidnapped and held in the possession of Viper and Artemis (the heartless and merciless Emmett Scanlan and Eve Mauro, respectively) for an elaborate human trafficking service, granting him the opportunity to go on a revenge-fueled tormenting spree not only to save her, but as a means to let out whatever rage he feels at the expense of often being kept apart from his daughter. In other words, it’s British-American Man on Fire with forgettable execution.
However, even that personal dynamic fades away, meaning the story engages with the bland idea that violence follows Levon everywhere he goes and that “a working man” is mere code for doing what’s right and taking justice into one’s hands through vigilantism. His search to rescue Jenny takes him into the world of human trafficking, drug lords, Russian gangsters, and other assorted henchmen, gradually morphing what should be a straightforward narrative into a buffet of action clichés and plot.
The overload of characters doesn’t stop there, as the screenplay (based on the book Levon’s Trade by Chuck Dixon) has a shortcut for every unlucky situation, whether it be an old war buddy (David Harbour) living in isolation who can look after his daughter when his criminal underworld prying comes back home to roost, or a friendly law enforcement agent who has information to hand over whenever his investigation hits a dead-end.
Perhaps too fittingly, at the very least, there is a workmanlike, efficient approach to the copious amounts of brawls and shootouts. There is vicious, bone-breaking hand-to-hand combat, a penchant for torture through water, heavy shotgun blasts, and numerous buildings stormed in a lengthy finale. The problem is that it’s all dished out against aggressively generic villains with no flair or personality beyond a goofy wardrobe for the Russians.
David Ayer and Sylvester Stallone twist Levon’s investigation into so many different directions, climbing the ladder of this criminal world, that there is too much of it and little momentum or narrative impact. It’s a series of episodic adventures finding out who Jason Statham will brutalize next, which sounds exciting in theory. In execution, it is just serviceable and competent with crippling pacing issues. Jason Statham is generally a reliably charismatic and intense performer, and that is no exception here, but it’s also not enough to make A Working Man work. The construction is bloated and all over the place, only occasionally salvaged by its star racking up a body count.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association, Critics Choice Association, and Online Film Critics Society. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews and follow my BlueSky or Letterboxd
