Should've Taken a Day Off

A Working Man is a re-teaming of star Jason Statham and director David Ayer from last years insane action flick The Beekeeper, and it is another Stath vehicle where he plays a bad ass hiding in plain sight who unleashes a furious vengeance on criminals who mess with someone he cares about. It is however, written by Sylvester Stallone and has much more in common with a late period Sly movie than last years apiculture themed romp. That isn't a good thing.

In Lance Cade, we do get a typically macho name for Statham's character. He is a former Royal Marine Commando now working as a foreman on a construction site in America and sleeping in his car. He is involved in a custody battle with his daughter's wealthy granfather but you would still expect the foreman of a fairly major construction project to have a roof over his head. Given the title and the leads situation you might think you are about to watch a satire of blue collar grafters being taken advantage of by their wealthy bosses, where Statham rampages against corporate greed in the US construction system. Not a bit of it though, old Lance is over the moon with his chickenfeed pay check, gushing about how his bosses, the Garcias, gave him "the chance" and calling them his family, Fast and Furious style. What actually sets him off is the abduction of the Garcias daughter Jenny on a night out (they give her thousands to go out and celebrate the end of a collage semester while their beloved foreman kips on a bloodstained mattress). He vows to bring her home safe, and after a brief chat with blind former colleague and "weapons sommelier", David Harbour, sets off to take on the criminal underworld.

It's easy to imagine how A Working Man came to be. Almost certainly written by Stallone as a vehicle for himself the studio were looking for a quick turnaround for Statham and Ayer after The Beekeeper's success and looked to scoop up an already existing screenplay. Thus a film with the plot, budget and look of a straight to streaming content stuffer ended up in cinemas with a sizeable marketing budget. An action script written for an ageing muscleman really is a waste of Statham's talents. The fights and shootouts are short and uninspired and at two hours long there is more than enough to get very, very, bored. There is an entire section that involves Cade getting involved in the drugs business that could have been removed entirely. The other big issue is that, it doesn't matter what the character is called or what his back story is, Jason Statham is Jason Statham. As such, the villains need to stack up to the villains in other Stath action movies to have any sort of credibility and there is not even a millisecond's doubt he is going to mow through the fodder on display here. It's 2025 so we are back to the Ruskies being the baddies but the old men in suits and pathetic edgy wasters that make up the Russian mob here are a massive comedown form his usual playmates. Chidi Ajufo appears and is an absolute unit but he is underused and by the time he does eventually fight it makes little sense.

The only real fun here comes from the hilarious dialogue. It isn't intentionally funny (the script is ridiculously po-faced) but whether its Cade's daughter saying she is "mwad at mommy", his father-in law goading him to "strike" him, or talk of violence following you like a cloud, it's impossible not to chuckle at the over earnest chat. Statham himself isn't given anywhere near enough gurning tough guy banter to spout as decimates his foes.

And that really is the crux of the issue with A Working Man, The Stath doesn't get to do enough of what he's good at. He is one of modern cinema's premier action men but without a screenplay and direction to showcase his skills we are just left staring at his short comings.

4 clocks punched out of 10.

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