Notable Cast: Jason Statham, Michael Peña, David Harbour,
Noemi Gonzalez, Jason Flemyng, Merab Ninidze, Maximilian Osinski, Cokey Falkow,
Arianna Rivas, Isla Gie, Emmett Scanlan, Eve Mauro
By the film's end, A Working Man is a full-on fantasy
where the realistic tones of its first half have entirely ceased to exist for a
truly unhinged world. To the point that the location of its final action set
piece looks like a Mario Bava soundstage. The fake-looking trees and a moon
that looks like it's only 18 feet away set the tone for its physics-shattering
action and brutal deaths. Ah, yes, this is precisely what I wanted. Action
films are mostly fantasy films, and the final act embraces that aspect, if not
the entire latter half.
A part of me wishes the entire film were within this caliber
of action cinema. When A Working Man is trying to be a heartfelt and
grounded thriller that sees Statham's Levon attempting to rescue the daughter
of his boss, the film struggles to find its footing in the tropes. What made
the previous outing between star, Statham and director, Ayer, The Beekeeper
work so well is that none of it felt like it needed to be grounded in the world
we live in - just the world that the characters lived in. A Working Man
spends far too much time trying to make us believe we're watching a gritty
crime drama before shedding preconceptions and embracing the Cannon insanity of
its finale. And when it does, it is precisely what this film needed to
be.