A Working Man review by Alex
A Working man is an action thriller movie starring Jason Statham as Levon Cade, a former covert operative who is settling down to the life of a civilian construction manager in order to get closer to his daughter. However he is forced out of retirement when his boss’ daughter is abducted by an underworld organisation.
This production has some familiar names and faces behind it, most notably Sylvester Stallone as one of the writers, Jason Statham as the main protagonist, and David Harbour making an appearance just to name a few. Locations were plentiful and did not feel confined to a fixed area (although not without their issues), really broadening the situations the characters were put in. However outside of these few points the film really falls flat…
What I found most jarring about the film was the very obvious fact it was filmed in the UK while being set in the US, whether that’s the very English type buildings to the clearly English traffic lights, to worst of all the UK plug socket with a US Travel adaptor slapped on it. I felt it ruined the immersion and has left me wondering why they didn’t just set it in the UK? They must have their reasons but I just see it as an unnecessary complication, surely it’s much more expensive to bring over US cars and bring over left hand drive cars, compared to just setting it in the UK and using locally sourced vehicles. The American Elements could’ve stayed too, with the easy vail of the characters moved there for “blahdy blah” reason.
While these elements were distracting, I did not feel entirely bored while watching the film. Something was always happening with nice gaps between action scenes which were cool to watch, but the script felt unfinished. It had potential with it’s concept but I just did not get attached to any of the characters, I could tell that the actors were trying their best with what they had but ultimately the dialogue was base level at best and some of the actions performed felt disjointed.
The film does what it says on the tin and falls within it’s targeted genres, but outside of that it’s not going to be winning any awards. If your a fan of Jason Statham give it a go, but it most certainly isn’t as solid as some of his back catalogue of films.
In Cinemas 28/3/25 (15) 2.5 Stars
Youth #Gottit View:
The cast do their best to make this film work (And it’s a really good cast) – but A Working Man doesn’t really work. The script is bad and it’s really hard to belive the story is set in the US, when it’s clearly shot in the UK. It will be a must see for Stath fans. But it’s not the best of his work!
Alex at the A Working Man Screening Party!!!
