‘A Working Man’: Yep, It’s Another Jason Statham Movie

For better or worse, A Working Man is exactly what you’d expect. From the actor-director duo that brought you The Beekeeper, Jason Statham and David Ayer have reunited to give us another John Wick-lite film where Statham plays a retired special ops agent who returns to a life of professional killing after some bad guys mess with the wrong person.

Though it’s probably better than The Beekeeper, it’s hard to say A Working Man is more entertaining. Statham is much more fun in this movie, and if you’re endeared to his particular brand of no-nonsense action movie characters then you’re sure to get some value out of this film.

But despite a much better script (written by Ayer and Sylvester Stallone and based on Chuck Dixon’s novel), A Working Man ultimately lacks the delirious plotting that made The Beekeeper a piece of such beautiful trash, all while moving at a rather slow pace.

Levon Cade (Statham) is a retired Royal Marines commando who’s decided to become a construction worker in Chicago to be a better father to his daughter Merry. But when his boss’ daughter Jenny (Arianna Rivas) is taken by human traffickers after a night out with friends, Levon takes matters into his own hands as he soon takes on pretty much the entire Russian mafia.

You’ve seen this movie before, given that pretty much every major studio action film in the past ten years has been riffing on the uber-popular John Wick franchise. But where films like John Wick or Nobody succeed partly thanks to the cheekily absurd framing of their stories, Ayer’s unofficial duology with Statham so far keeps the proverbial tongue out of its cheek by focusing on honestly quite heavy subject matter.

A Working Man is a bit too self-serious

The path to violence is sparked by the kidnapping of a 19-year-old girl, and where this human trafficking conspiracy has infiltrated the Chicago police department to allow these criminals to act with impunity. This extremely heavy subject matter is paired with the innate desire of an action movie to make Statham seem as badass and capable as possible, which he does achieve with his singularly charming disposition.

But it’s hard to rattle the feeling there’s a deeper anxiety at the heart of A Working Man, one that was also present in The Beekeeper. It’s a fear that honestly feels conservative in nature; that society is corrupt and that only a single guy with unshakeable morals can dismantle this depraved system. Never is Cade’s crusade ever deemed pointless or the efforts of someone out of their right mind – it’s always seen as the right thing to do.

It makes A Working Man feel more bitter than a lot of these contemporary action films focusing on a hyper-competent man with the power of an army, even when it occasionally suggests it might become fun.

Unfortunately, similarly to The Beekeeper, Ayer doesn’t seem to have the directing chops to make Statham’s impressive stuntwork really pop onscreen. The rapid cuts in every bit of action are highly distracting, and contribute to making the film feel a bit dated.

It’s hard to get too worked up about A Working Man, though. It’s easy to recommend if somewhat trashy Jason Statham movies are your particular vibe, but anyone digging for more is set to find a diamond in the rough. And for those who are looking for a Jason Statham movie where he’s a hyper-competent vet on the warpath, maybe that’s okay.

★★½

A Working Man is in cinemas now.