A Working Man

Rating 5/10

Jason Statham has a well-established formula, and his latest follows it to a T. The actor knows what his audience wants. Statham cranks out hard-hitting action movies that are at least serviceable. A Working Man is –appropriately — a workmanlike film.

Levon Cade (Jason Statham) is a construction foreman in Chicago who yearns to leave his violent past behind as a Royal Marines commando. Cade has built a close bond with his boss (Michael Peña) and his family, who oversee the business. Unfortunately, his peaceful existence is upended when the boss’s teenage daughter, Jenny (Arianna Rivas), is kidnapped by human traffickers. Determined to save her, Levon is plunged into a dangerous underworld of crime that forces him to rely on the deadly skills he learned in his former life.

A familiar blueprint has Statham’s character wading through multiple layers of corruption and villains—gradually taking down the bad guys one by one. The underground network of Russian elites and local thugs clearly picked the wrong guy to mess with as Cade climbs his way up the chain of command to rescue the missing girl. Director David Ayer (Fury, Suicide Squad, The Beekeeper) is adapting a screenplay he co-wrote with Sylvester Stallone, based on Chuck Dixon’s 2014 novel Levon’s Trade.

If this all sounds a bit like Taken, well, it is—but more convoluted and less efficient. The movie succeeds when it leans into its own cheesiness, fully embracing Statham’s signature brand of blunt-force excitement. Some fun supporting players include David Harbour as Cade’s blind tactical ally and Jason Flemyng (a frequent antagonist) in a minor role. Director Ayer has a solid grip on the showdowns.  He keeps the fight scenes intense, though they lack the flair of The Beekeeper‘s absurd set pieces. And while it delivers on the promise of brutal comeuppance, the nearly two-hour runtime stretches a meager plot far too thin.

Ultimately, A Working Man is an unremarkable addition to Statham’s filmography. It’s not as tight or as memorable as Homefront (another Stallone-penned script) or as stylish as The Beekeeper, but if you just want to watch Statham destroy bad guys for a couple of hours, it gets the job done.

03-27-25