IN A Working Man, audiences are treated to what is essentially a Jason Statham genre piece with the soul of a Home Depot commercial and the moral core of a Liam Neeson phone call. Directed by David Ayer (yes, that Suicide Squad guy) and co-written by none other than Sylvester Stallone, the film attempts to channel gritty man-on-a-mission energy but ends up feeling like a reheated casserole of every action thriller from the past decade, with a touch more plaster dust.
Statham stars as Levon, a former military badass who has traded black ops for blueprints. Naturally, the peace does not last long. What follows is a one-man demolition derby of fists, gunfire and furrowed brows. And while it never truly rises above its predictable script or boilerplate direction, it also never fully crashes and burns, either. It just idles there, flexing its muscles.
When in doubt, grunt it out
A Working Man does not pretend to be high cinema. It knows its audience. It was practically engineered in a lab for anyone who thought The Mechanic needed more drywall or Safe could use a construction site subplot. It is not here to change the game, it is here to play the same game in steel-toe boots.
Statham delivers, as always, a rock-solid performance of deadpan intensity. Whether he is drilling nails or drilling bad guys with equal efficiency, his charisma somehow pulls the film through the more uninspired stretches. He grunts, he growls and he walks away from explosions without looking back. Mission accomplished.
Unfortunately, everything around him seems to be a few screws loose. The villains are as one-dimensional as an Ikea instruction manual, the supporting cast ranges from “adequate” to “where have I seen them before?” and the script, while occasionally sharp, often stumbles on action clichés like a drunk uncle at a barbecue. Lines land with the grace of a thrown cinder block.
Gunfights, gut renovations
Where A Working Man shines is in its action sequences, which, to be fair, are the main reason anyone bought a ticket. The fight choreography is brutal, the gunplay loud and fast and the body count impressively stacked. Ayer knows how to direct carnage, even if the camera occasionally forgets that editing is a thing.
There is also a weird, mildly amusing contrast in tone throughout the movie. One moment it is all blood, bullets and snarling mafiosos, the next it is back to scenes of Statham standing around in a hard hat, casually sipping from a thermos. There is even a warm dinner scene that feels pulled straight from a Hallmark film, sandwiched awkwardly between warehouse massacres.
It is that tonal inconsistency that keeps A Working Man from hitting the highs of Statham’s better flicks. It is not The Transporter or Wrath of Man. Heck, it does not even match Homefront, which, coincidentally, was also written by Stallone. Instead, this one fits neatly into the “it’s fine” tier of his filmography.
Stallone’s pen, Ayer’s lens, Statham’s abs
With Stallone co-writing and producing, there is a very specific kind of machismo dripping from every scene. Every line sounds like it was written for the Marlboro man. Every stare-off threatens to trigger a testosterone explosion. But for all its bluster, the movie never feels particularly original. Every twist feels telegraphed, every emotional beat hits like a sledgehammer to a soufflé.
Ayer’s direction does not help either. While the film maintains a gritty, street-level aesthetic, it lacks the polish or pacing of his earlier work, such as End of Watch or Fury. Here, the camera often lingers too long or cuts too quickly, making some sequences more dizzying than dynamic. The score is thumping and moody, but ultimately forgettable.
And yet, something is charming about how earnestly the film tries to deliver a straightforward, meat-and-potatoes action tale. No frills, no flair, just Statham laying waste to every baddie within reach. It may not be smart, but it is committed.
Watch it for Statham
Ultimately, A Working Man is just aggressively average. It does everything a Statham movie is expected to do, just with less style, less bite and less wit than his greatest hits. There is no reinventing the wheel here, just rotating the tires on a vehicle that has been driving down this road for far too long.
Still, for fans of no-nonsense, bicep-flexing, accent-gravelling action flicks, there is enough here to justify a late-night viewing with snacks and lowered expectations. Just remember: it is a Statham movie. That is the best reason to watch it. Do not take it too seriously.
Because if you do, you might just start wondering why half the cast looks like they were recruited from a warehouse clearance sale of Eastern European henchmen and why the plot twists are visible from orbit.
A Working Man is neither the best nor the worst Statham outing, it is just a workmanlike display of fists, firepower and familiar tropes. Sit back, turn off the brain and enjoy watching Statham do what he does best: look pissed off and hit things really, really hard.
DIRECTOR: David Ayer
CAST: Jason Statham, Arianna Rivas, Michael Peña, Emmett J Scanlan, Ricky Champ
E-VALUE: 5/10
PLOT: 4/10
ACTING: 4/10
