A WORKING MAN
Starring: Jason Statham, David Harbour, Michael Peña, Jason Flemyng, Arianna Rivas, Emmett J. Scanlan, Eve Mauro, Maximilian Osinski, Max Croes, and Isla Gie
Director: David Ayer
QUENTIN
Although a moderately entertaining action throwback, A Working Man does very little to stand out amongst similar fare like Man on Fire and Taken. That’s not to say it’s awful, just that it’s exactly what you’d expect from “the new Jason Statham movie,” which is to say watching quiet stretches of barely serviceable acting and convoluted-yet-somehow-still-thin story while waiting for Statham to loudly kick some ass. Also, I don’t know what kind of drugs the costume designer was on, but I’ve never seen more hilariously caricature-ish wardrobe choices for the Russian mob (I mean that as a compliment); it must have been the good stuff.
AMARÚ
After The Beekeeper, I’ll give any Jason Statham revenge flick a chance. However, unlike their first go ‘round, director David Ayer and Statham’s latest collaboration, A Working Man, takes itself too seriously. Instead of laughing with the ridiculous characters and dialogue, I rolled my eyes at them. They do give Statham’s character more emotional depth this time, and while it develops rapport between him and his daughter (Isla Gie), it is as poorly executed as most of the film. The action is hard to see, the story is plot-hole ridden, and although cathartic vibes can be felt periodically, the film is over-edited, overly dramatic, and overwrought.
ADRIANO
When A Working Man commits to its concept of being a meat-head film with Jason Statham being a one-man army, it's hard not to enjoy. That said, the whole movie's manufactured patriotism makes its anti-human trafficking thing feel fake. I can forgive films like this for not having one sentence sound real, but I can't ignore the plot full of nonsense that just leads to one stereotype after the next. It's also possible that Director/Co-Writer David Ayer and Statham's collaborations don't work for me, as I despised The Beekeeper more than most, and this one is another miss.
BODE
In A Working Man, director David Ayer, in his second collaboration with star Jason Statham following The Beekeeper, attempts to mix some of that film’s pleasurable insanity with the seriousness that the very real subject of human trafficking allows (making it the second time co-writer/co-producer Sylvester Stallone has tackled it, following Rambo: Last Blood). Predictably, it’s a baffling mess, contradicting itself as it goes (especially in its almost pandering bouts at patriotism). I can’t deny that I got some enjoyment out of it however, especially in its final 20 minutes, where it truly lets loose. Fascinatingly unhinged.
