A Working Man
⭐️ ⭐️ (out of 5 stars)
Going to the cinema has become a time-travelling experience, not because of the latest Back to the Future film, but how filmmakers are sampling the 80s style of moviemaking. Director David Ayer and Jason Statham began this vigilante-inspired narrative with The Beekeeper and continued with A Working Man. To add to the vibe of previous eras, this film was co-written and produced by the man who helped to define a whole generation of action films, Sylvester Stallone.
A tale as old as time itself, where a former special forces soldier is merely trying to get his life on track at the local construction site. Yet, ex-Royal Marines commando Levon Cade (Statham) can’t help himself to step in when any of his workers are threatened or when the owner’s family comes under attack. Joe Garcia (Michael Peña) runs his construction business with his family and has high hopes for his daughter, Jenny (Arianna Rivas), who is looking to celebrate her first semester of university with friends. Until she is targeted by human traffickers during her night out on the town, and they kidnap her to hand her over to a client of a Russian mobster. Except Cade takes it upon himself to find the girl and bring her home. His actions disrupt a slew of nefarious forces that plan to get in his way of saving the young woman.
For the fans of this genre of film or the committed Jason Statham followers, this David Ayer project is designed for you. Ayers/Stallone’s script harkens back to the stories of the flawed and violent guardian angel who will go to extreme lengths to see justice delivered. A series of action sequences and fight scenes with insignificant drama threads that help justify every bullet and on-screen punch. There are whispers of John Wick, Rambo, and Death Wish breathed into this screenplay as it takes on the current crime de jour of human trafficking and capitalises on Russia's ever-present Cold War villainy. All accompanied by a steady stream of quippy one-liners that should make the cast of The Expendables drool with the prospect of another mindless adventure to be greenlit by the studio.
David Ayers’ latest action film doesn’t attempt to hide what it is trying to dish out, as there are more broken bones, guns and dead mobsters at the end of this film than anyone can keep count of. Yet, for those looking for a Jason Statham film heavy on choreographed violence and light on story, A Working Man will do the job, and then some.
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Reel Dialogue: A very ‘real’ issue: human trafficking
It is hard to imagine that in this modern era that we are dealing with slavery around the world, but it is an issue for us to address. Human trafficking and slavery are interchangeable terms that define people who are held in a forced labour situation, regardless of the reason.
The United Nations defines human trafficking as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, using the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.” [1]
Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy. Proverbs 31:8-9
After experiencing this film, the logical conclusion is that audiences must act. Destiny Rescue is an organisation that provides solutions. Check out works like Destiny Rescue to learn more about human trafficking and sexual exploitation around the globe. Discover what drives these deplorable crimes and how to fight against this worldwide issue.
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