People, especially critics, love to call something “formulaic,” where the term is used as a pejorative. But what’s wrong with a formula, as long as it works? After all, everyone loves a good Big Mac every now and again. A Working Man (2025), the latest high-octane collaboration between star Jason Statham and director David Ayer, following last year’s The Beekeeper, is a Big Mac-style action programmer. Even if you’re an action novice, you’ve seen this kind of movie before: a brooding ex-commando is compelled to put his old people-hurtin’ skills to use when some manner of injustice is visited upon either himself or his loved ones.
This type of action plot was getting long in the tooth back in 1985 when Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in Commando, which itself was riffing on decades’ worth of Western tropes about the lone gunslinger, as well as Eastern tropes concerning the ronin warrior. That same year, Sylvester Stallone starred in Rambo: First Blood Part II, the movie that would cement him as an action star who could rival the likes of Schwarzenegger, Clint Eastwood, and Charles Bronson. It’s no surprise, then, that A Working Man is a real throwback to ‘80s action structure, as the script is co-written by David Ayer — best known for Fury (2014), Suicide Squad (2016), and The Tax Collector (2020) — and Sylvester Stallone himself.
A Working Man opens with a table-setting, main title sequence that hints at our protagonist’s colorful past (featuring a few scantily-clad women and a Shirley Bassey song that’s shy of being a James Bond opening theme). We’re then introduced to Levon Cade (Jason Statham), an ex-Royal Marines commando and current construction worker, who’s operating as the foreman at a site in Chicago. His boss, Joe Garcia (Michael Peña), is an honest developer, and Joe’s wife, Carla (Noemi Gonzalez), and daughter, Jenny (Arianna Rivas), are like family to him.
Cade has an actual daughter, Merry (Isla Gie), but is only legally allowed to visit her for a couple of hours per week, because her psychiatrist stepfather mistakenly believes he murdered his wife, who died by suicide. The titular working man also has spiritual brethren, thanks to his military service, such as the ex-soldier Gunny Lefferty (David Harbour), a blind survivalist whom Cade rescued during battle. With all of this, the stage is set for what the marketing of A Working Man promises: Cade being forced to blow his cover while on the job and putting his deadly talents to use — just another honest day’s work.
Sadly, the most major flaw of A Working Man is that the film blows this unique opportunity. Although the movie’s first action sequence delivers on this concept, David Ayer and Sylvester Stallone rapidly pivot away from the blue-collar life of Cade and instead send him on a hunt through the Russian mafia underworld that’s operating within the American Midwest after Jenny is kidnapped by human traffickers. To be fair, this is true to the plot of its source material, the novel Levon’s Trade by author Chuck Dixon — the first in a series of (as of this writing) 12 books starring the Cade character. In essence, Levon Cade is Dixon’s answer to Lee Child’s Jack Reacher.
While David Ayer and Sylvester Stallone’s script doesn’t deviate from Chuck Dixon’s page-turner, their choice to blend it with an ‘80s-‘90s action vibe and a comic-book verve keep A Working Man from feeling like a cheap Reacher rip-off. That comic-book verve (which belongs as much to veteran Marvel and DC Comics writer Dixon as much as Ayer) can especially be seen in the film’s visual palette. Cinematographer Shawn White injects an impressively wide range of colors, from the cold grays of a mafia mansion to the vibrant purples of a seedy bar. Several night exteriors feature a giant moon hanging low in the sky, a look that owes a great debt to classic pulp fiction novels.
The stunt work, shepherded by Guillermo Grispo and Eddie J. Fernandez, is refreshingly no-nonsense. Post-John Wick, it’s felt like too many American action films have been trying to raise the choreography bar, sometimes to the point of overindulgence or overstimulation. Grispo, Fernandez, and director David Ayer cleverly pace themselves, allowing for a handful of special gags that land with maximum impact rather than go for overkill. As per usual in a star vehicle such as this, Jason Statham is the MVP, his physicality and professionalism lending Cade the right amount of trustworthiness the story needs. He’s not necessarily the ultimate warrior, but rather the ultimate protector, and that’s a key difference.
Jason Statham’s approach to Levon Cade allows room for newcomer Arianna Rivas to shine as Jenny. One retro trope A Working Man does not indulge in is the “kidnapped girl in an action movie.” Despite Jenny remaining off-screen for a bit too long during the second act, she’s given some great moments to be a character unto herself and not merely a MacGuffin. Rivas is so great in the part, in fact, that it feels like a missed opportunity for folks like Michael Peña and David Harbour to miss out on the fun. On that note, Harbour’s character feels more like a hook for a sequel rather than an active participant in Cade’s current mission.
Setting up future installments isn’t necessarily out of bounds — A Working Man is based on a book series and Sylvester Stallone was initially developing the adaptation as a TV show — but it’s still a bit of a letdown. The movie’s surprisingly deep rogue’s gallery is a little unsatisfying, too. Even if the involvement of numerous mobsters and henchmen allows the world of the film to feel realistic, it makes Cade’s quest more about freeing Jenny and less about stopping anyone in particular. The two villains who really pop are the traffickers themselves, Viper (Emmett J. Scanlan) and Artemis (Eve Mauro), with the duo being genuinely unhinged monsters. Everyone else is just collateral damage.
Fortunately, the proven narrative and its characters are strong enough to carry A Working Man all the way to quitting time, and then some. As any working man will tell you, getting a job done right all hinges on hiring the most reliable people, and the team of Jason Statham and David Ayer is increasingly becoming a dependable one. The two seem to bring out the best in each other, and that may be because they are, separately, two of the most consistent people in action films still working today. Together, they have now reached the gonzo heights of The Beekeeper (2024) and the Reacher-meets-Rambo grit of A Working Man.
Whether or not Levon Cade returns for more adventures (and I hope he does), we must keep the pairing of Jason Statham and David Ayer. They’re a formula for great action cinema, and there’s nothing wrong with a formula as long as it works.
A Working Man hits theaters on March 28!
Release Date: March 28, 2025.
Directed by David Ayer.
Written by Sylvester Stallone & David Ayer.
Produced by David Ayer, Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Chris Long, John Friedberg, Bill Block, & Kevin King Templeton.
Executive Producers: Volodymyr Artemenko, Rachael Cole, Alexis Garcia, Michael Heimler, Teddy Schwarzman, Mike Shanks, Jill Silfen, Yevgen Stupka, & Thomas Zadra.
Main Cast: Jason Statham, Arianna Rivas, Isla Gie, David Harbour, Michael Peña, Jason Flemyng, Noemi Gonzalez, Emmett J. Scanlan, Eve Mauro, Maximilian Osinski, Max Croes, Kristina Poli, Andrej Kaminsky, & Alana Boden.
Cinematographer: Shawn White.
Composer: Jared Michael Fry.
Production Companies: Black Bear, Cedar Park Entertainment, Punch Palace Productions, & Balboa Productions.
Distributor: Amazon MGM Studios.
Runtime: 116 minutes.
Rated R.
