Film Review: A Working Man

Welcome back to the blog readers. In case I have not made myself perfectly clear over the last two years, allow me to bring forth the hottest take I could bring to the table. I do not think Jason Statham is a good actor, and I actively try to avoid seeing his films because I know what the result will be. That was the case with this film, but unfortunately my family disagrees with my sentiment. Would this film be any different than the other Statham stinkers? Stick around to find out.

A Working Man was directed by David Ayer from a script by Ayer and Sylvester Stallone, based on the novel Levon's Trade by Chuck Dixon. The film stars Jason Statham, Jason Flemyng, Merab Ninidze, Maximillian Osinski, Cokey Falkow, Michael Peña, Noemi Gonzalez, Arianna Rivas, and David Harbour. In the film, when their daughter is kidnapped by human traffickers, a couple that owns a construction company enlists the help of their foreman to get her back no matter the cost.

I do love action films, so I was kind of hoping that David Ayer charm that was present in Suicide Squad (2016) and The Beekeeper (2024) would be able to get us through another lifeless and uncharismatic performance from Statham. And I thankfully am happy to report...that that's exactly the opposite of what I wanted to happen. Not only is the part about Statham's performance true, this film does not have any of that Ayer charm because it is soulless and by-the-numbers in every possible way with nothing good to add to the genre.

At this point, is there anything different I can say regarding Jason Statham? I do not like him as an actor, and every character he has played has basically been the same character. Former soldier/military personnel who has left that life gets recruited to get back into that life to save/get revenge on someone, and each character has that same monotone and soulless tough guy mentality where they are extremely successful in their missions and never experience any hardship at all. Just look at Mechanic: Resurrection (2016), The Meg (2018) and its worst film I've ever seen sequel Meg 2: The Trench (2023), and Wrath of Man (2021). This film is no different than all of that.

I will not be spending any more time on this film because I am basically going to start repeating myself. The violence was pretty gory, but it and the action felt like visual noise: action for action's sake. But the story is what I want to end on because it is oh so derivative. There have been many films that touched on the topic of human trafficking (and do not get me wrong, I believe this is a major issue that needs to be eliminated), and all of them are the same: one-note villains that are thinner than a piece of paper and have no motivation beside "doing something bad," and then the hero goes after them by infiltrating their ranks and then saves the day and everyone lives happily ever after. Have you seen this film before? I bet you have.

In conclusion, A Working Man is a lazy and derivative film that further proves my point that Jason Statham is not a good actor at all. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.