A Working Man Review
A Working Man is close to what to expect from a Statham movie. The director may change, the cast may be different, but the essential formula is always the same. There’s lots of action, with bullets and fists flying in equal measure, and he kills lots of bad guys. He plays a loner with a background that explains his combat skills – so he can kill lots of bad guys. He has a soft side, deeply loyal to those close to him and a clear sense of right and wrong, so ….. you get the picture. And what those bad guys have done is almost incidental, because they’re purely on the screen as Statham fodder.
For his latest in what has become a very repetitive series, Statham has re-teamed with David Ayer, who was in the director’s chair for last year’s The Beekeeper but, instead of taking up apiculture after a successful career in the black ops, he’s working in construction. He lives in his car to afford lawyer’s bills to make sure of regular access to his young daughter, his employers are like a second family and his team of hard working immigrant builders adore him. But gangsters are showing an unhealthy interest in the business and, after seeing off a group of thugs, he discovers the family’s eldest daughter has been kidnapped. And there’s only one person who can track her down and bring her home.
There’s a definite whiff of Taken about the storyline here but, more astonishingly, a total disconnect with the rest of the movie. After getting a flea in their villainous ears on the building site, you’d think the gangsters would get their own back by kidnapping the eldest daughter. You’d be wrong. Her disappearance is completely random and has nothing to do with that opening sequence. Anything the film has to say about people trafficking is chucked into a few, horribly superficial lines as an afterthought, seemingly to fend off accusations of being tone deaf. Hint: people trafficking is bad. Who knew?
It looks like Ayer has assembled an appealing cast. End Of Watch’s Michael Pena is Statham’s boss on the construction site, while Stranger Things’ David Harbour is a former military colleague who lives out of town with his partner. The sad truth is that they’re given precious little to do, with Pena spending most of his time looking stressed and Harbour pretending he hasn’t lost his sight. The only actor who seems to be taking any pleasure in being in the film is perennial gangster, Jason Flemyng. Sporting an outrageous Russian accent, he’s so completely over the top that he clearly belongs in another – and better – film. But he’s the one source of much-needed humour in what is otherwise a dour experience. Statham, of course, is just Statham.
That A Working Man sticks to an overly-familiar formula goes without saying, although the actor’s many fans would be hugely disappointed if it didn’t. The downside is that the formula is devoid of character, nuance, subtlety or anything else unless it leads to yet another punch-up or shoot-out. Nobody does this kind of film quite like Statham. But you do wonder how much long he can carry on doing this.
★★
In UK cinemas from March 28th / Jason Statham, Jason Flemyng, Michael Pena, David Harbour, Arianna Rivas, Chidi Ajufo, Maximilian Osinski / Dir: David Ayer / Warner Brothers / 15
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