The end of a long week always hits the same. You clock out, drive home through traffic that eats another piece of your soul, and walk into an apartment that’s a little too quiet. After my divorce, Friday nights became my time to decompress, which usually means a cold beer and a movie that doesn’t ask too much of me. I’m a carpenter, I spend my days measuring twice and cutting once, dealing with contractors and sawdust. The last thing I want is a film that’s going to make me think about subtext. I want something straightforward, something with a clear right and wrong, something that gets the job done.
That’s the mood I was in when I was scrolling through https://uk.soap2day.day/ and saw the title A Working Man. With Jason Statham on the poster, you know exactly what you’re signing up for. The film introduces us to Levon Cade (Statham), a former black-ops guy who’s left that life behind to swing a hammer as a construction foreman. He’s got a daughter he’s fighting to get custody of and a good relationship with his boss’s family. It’s a simple, quiet life. But, of course, that quiet doesn’t last. When his boss’s teenage daughter is snatched by human traffickers, Levon has to dust off the old skills and go back to the only other trade he’s ever known: violence.
A Familiar Blueprint
Let’s be honest, the story here isn’t breaking any new ground. It’s a classic revenge-and-rescue mission that feels like a mashup of Taken and The Equalizer. Levon starts by shaking down low-level thugs and works his way up a ladder of increasingly cartoonish villains, from Russian mobsters to a biker gang. It’s a formula as old as the action genre itself, and the movie follows it with the grim determination of a man on a mission.
What’s different here, especially compared to Statham and director David Ayer’s last team-up, The Beekeeper, is the tone. That movie was a blast because it knew it was ridiculous. A Working Man takes itself much more seriously. The jokes are few and far between, replaced by a gritty, somber mood that feels heavily influenced by co-writer Sylvester Stallone. It’s less about witty one-liners and more about the heavy burden of a violent man trying to do the right thing. For a movie that’s nearly two hours long, that seriousness can make things drag a bit, especially when you’re just waiting for the next punch-up.
The Right Tools for the Job
A movie like this rests on the shoulders of its leading man, and Jason Statham is as reliable as a steel-toed boot. He plays Levon Cade with his signature stoic intensity. He’s not asked to do much more than glower, speak in a gravelly whisper, and be incredibly good at hurting people, but nobody does it better. You believe he can walk into a room full of bad guys and be the only one to walk out.
The real surprise, and the best part of the movie, is David Harbour as Gunny, Levon’s old war buddy. Gunny is a blind, reclusive weapons expert who lives in a cabin in the woods, and he brings a much-needed dose of heart and humor to the film. The chemistry between Statham and Harbour is fantastic. Their scenes together feel real and lived-in, like two old friends who have been through hell together. Harbour steals every scene he’s in and makes you wish he was in the movie more. The villains are a colorful bunch of scumbags who are fun to hate, but it’s the bond between Levon and Gunny that gives the film its soul.
The Creative Force
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Director: David Ayer
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Writers: David Ayer, Sylvester Stallone
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Key Cast: Jason Statham (Levon Cade), David Harbour (Gunny Lefferty), Michael Peña (Joe Garcia), Jason Flemyng (Wolo Kolisnyk), Arianna Rivas (Jenny Garcia), Maximilian Osinski (Dimi Kolisnyk)
Grime and Grit
David Ayer directs with his usual gritty, street-level style. The action is brutal and visceral, and you feel every punch, stab, and gunshot. However, some of the fight scenes are a bit messy. They’re often shot in dark, poorly lit rooms, and the shaky camera and quick cuts can make it hard to tell what’s going on. I had to rewind a couple of scenes on Soap2day just to figure out who was hitting whom.
The film’s biggest problem is its pacing. For a movie about a desperate race against time to save a kidnapped girl, it feels surprisingly slow. There are long stretches of people just talking in cars or dimly lit rooms, and a whole subplot about Levon’s custody battle with his father-in-law feels tacked on and slows the momentum down to a crawl. When the action does kick in, it’s great, but you have to wait a while to get to it.
The Verdict from a Working Man
Critics were pretty mixed on this one, but it seems like regular audiences enjoyed it a lot more, and I can see why. A Working Man isn’t a great film. It’s too long, too serious for its own good, and the plot is as predictable as a sunrise. But it delivers on its basic promise: you get to watch Jason Statham be an unstoppable force of nature for two hours.
For a guy like me, after a 50-hour work week, that’s sometimes all you need. It’s a straightforward, no-nonsense action flick that gets the job done. It’s not fancy, but it’s solid. It’s the kind of movie you can put on, turn your brain off, and just enjoy the ride. And sometimes, a film you can find on Soap2day on a Friday night is all the masterpiece you need.
Film Fast Facts
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Release Date: March 28, 2025
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Director: David Ayer
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Running Time: 116 minutes
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Budget: Approx. $40 million
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Worldwide Box Office: Approx. $88 million
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Rotten Tomatoes Score: 49% (Critics), 87% (Audience)
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Metacritic Score: 52 (Mixed or Average Reviews)
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Rating: R