A Working Man Review
Jason Statham plays a man with a very particular set of skills in David Ayer’s A Working Man.
Jason Statham in A Working Man. Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios
A Working Man marks director David Ayer’s second collaboration with perpetually grimacing action star Jason Statham after last year’s The Beekeeper. The result is an underwhelming, by-the-numbers action film with few surprises, a step down from their previous film. Frankly, I found myself bored during A Working Man. The Beekeeper wasn’t Statham or Ayer’s best movie, but at least it was fun.
David Ayer and Sylvester Stallone adapted the novel Levon’s Trade by renowned comic book writer Chuck Dixon (Detective Comics, The Punisher). Stallone originally intended to adapt the book into a TV series; instead, he wrote a feature screenplay that Statham brought to Ayer, who then rewrote the script.
Jason Statham in A Working Man. Credit: Dan Smith. Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios
Jason Statham plays Levon Cade, a former British Royal Guard soldier who retired from the military after a tragic family loss. He began a new life as a construction foreman, forming close ties to his employer Joe Garcia (Michael Peña) and the Garcia family. When Joe’s 19-year-old daughter, Jenny (Arianna Rivas), is kidnapped by human traffickers from the Russian mob, Cade vows to get her back at any cost.
What follows is Statham hunting down and killing cartoonish villains whose personalities consist of only their costumes. No one antagonist is onscreen long enough to leave a lasting impact, and none of them exude a real sense of menace, because they’re all idiots. The movie takes itself entirely too seriously by comparison. I would have imagined a hero at least having a bit more fun here.
Exiting the theater, I couldn’t help but think of Taken, Pierre Morel’s hit thriller starring Liam Neeson as a man with “a very particular set of skills” who sets off to find his daughter when human traffickers kidnap her. Taken, a far better film, is played totally straight. It makes me wonder what A Working Man would have been like if it had gone completely over the top with its tone and had a bit more fun to match the goofiness of its villains.
Arianna Rivas is a highlight as the kidnapping victim, particularly as we get to the third act and she’s given more to do. I appreciate that Ayer gave the character some agency. She’s not just a damsel in distress; one of her big scenes is among the most suspenseful in a movie that’s otherwise highly predictable.
Arianna Rivas and Jason Statham in A Working Man. Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios
The action choreography is perfunctory, or at least seems like it because the camera is too close and the editing too quick to get a real sense of it. The bloody deaths are brutal, however. The film earns its “R” rating.
A Working Man is a forgettable action film. Ayer’s previous film, The Beekeeper, will live on as the superior Statham vehicle between the two. I’m still left wondering where the David Ayer who made the fantastic End of Watch and wrote the now-classic Training Day has gone.
A Working Man opens exclusively in theaters on Friday, March 27, 2025.
