In A Working Man, Jason Statham stars as Levon Cade (totally sounds like a real name), a former Royal Marine turned construction worker trying to live a quiet life in Chicago. When his boss’s daughter, Jenny, is kidnapped by human traffickers, Cade is reluctantly drawn back into a world of violence.

A Working Man Review

A Working Man desperately wants to be a blue-collar Taken. However, thanks to a flat and lifeless script penned by Sylvester Stallone and director David Ayer, as well as what is becoming Ayer’s signature incompetence behind the camera, the film is much less Taken and much more leave it.

There are moments in which some light almost shines through the clouds in A Working Man, as it hints at world-building that never finds its way to the screen. This makes me think that the novel might be worth a quick listen on Audible one day when I need some background noise. However, any scintilla of something interesting happening in the movie is quickly interrupted by its surprisingly slow pace, cluttered narrative, and disjointed presentation, which leaves you wondering who the bloated cast of characters is and exactly what the heck they are doing.

Taken technically takes place over about 4 days. Still, the story’s laser focus and Liam Neeson’s character’s tangible and kinetic desperation (not to mention rage) make it feel like the film is always moving forward, and those days fly by. Its uncompromising and straightforward race-against-the-clock stakes build the tension and give the audience what all quality thrillers require: a sense of catharsis at its conclusion.

Conversely, A Working Man fails to convey a sense of impending doom or to keep the blood rushing. Rather, it consists of repeated starts and stops as Statham’s character bounces from action set piece to quiet contemplation to visiting buddies for a quiet chat/therapy session. Likewise, the villain’s plan seems to consist of doing a whole lot of nothing to ensure that Statham’s Cade conveniently has plenty of time to rescue his charge.

All of this is mixed with a painfully underdeveloped subplot involving the Russian Mob, who, for some reason, shop at stores that only sell The Matrix and Dark City costumes and are perfectly content to get their rearends very publicly handed to them without retribution.

Even though (as I’ve often said on this site) no one sells a punch like Jason Statham, the action is unfortunately both unremarkable and scarce. Thanks to its humdrum NPC baddies, there’s little emotional impact when one of them bites it, and the film doesn’t even attempt to compensate for its lack of originality with over-the-top violence and gore.

As the final credits roll and you awaken from your almost two-hour slumber, A Working Man feels much more like a Netflix-made-for-streaming movie than it does ready for the big time. It doesn’t even have enough personality to build a drinking game out of it.

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