A Working Man…to BEE or not to BEE
This week, Mr and Mrs Average Dude ventured out to our local moviehaus to see A Working Man, the latest action flick from the ageless Jason Statham. A Working Man is the story of Levon Cade, an ex-special ops agent who has chosen the simpler life of a mild-mannered construction foreman. When the daughter of the company owner gets abducted by human traffickers, Levon is forced back into old habits.
Let’s get this right out front…I like Jason Statham. His unconvential good looks and British accent set him apart from the generic, @$$ kicking action star that is everywhere. He has a trademark killer stare that just doesn’t seem to grow old (like the man himself).
Having said this, I’ll say that Statham’s career trajectory seems very much to be on the downward slide. My receipts: Mechanic. Spy. Safe. Parker. Both Megs. And of course, Beekeeper. His movies are as BEE movie as BEE movies can get.
And that’s okay
Like Bruce Willis in the twighlight of his career, it almost seems like a natural progression for action stars. None of the greats were immune. Stalone has his Escape Plan, Bullet to the Head, Smaritan (and don’t get me started on Driven). Ahnold has his Escape Plan, The Last Stand, Maggie, etc. All of those are a steep dropoffs from the movies that made their star great. We see them for nostalgia, for the mindless action. We see them for their fun-factor, like riding a roller coaster we’ve ridden a hundred times. They definitely have their place and that’s fine. That’s where I’m putting A Working Man.
Nothing new here
So, did the Average Dude like A Working Man? I did. It was everything I expected from a Statham movie. No surprises, good or bad. Unlike the aforementioned Beekeeper, there were really no poorly done, over the top special effects (an understatement…they were horrendous). If you don’t count the unkillable hero as a suspension of disbelief, there was nothing I saw that made me lean over to Mrs Average Dude and say ‘yeah, that’s never going to happen’. That counts as a plus in my book.
So, I’m giving A Working Man a modest 3.1 for meeting expectations, low as they were. And maybe a +.1 for being so much better than Beekeeper. It also helps that it was rolled out to us in what might be the biggest dip in Hollywood movie quality I can ever remember, and that includes the year of covid. At least that year had Free Guy. A saving grace if ever there were one.
And What is going on with THIS?
While searching for images to add to this review, I came across this movie poster.
Call me crazy, but I think I might have remembered this scene. Was A Working Man originally supposed to be a very different movie? If anyone knows the answer, message me. Thanks!
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