Review: The Working Man - Jason Statham Deserves Better (And So Do We)
It's rare to see a movie that manages to waste every ounce of potential it has, but The Working Man pulls it off with a stunning level of mediocrity. Billed as a gritty, grounded look at the blue-collar world through the eyes of a former mercenary turned factory worker (yes, really), this film is the cinematic equivalent of watching paint dry-if the paint occasionally exploded for no reason.
Jason Statham stars as Roy Cutter, a retired black-ops operative trying to live a quiet life working at a steel mill in some unnamed, perpetually grey city. Of course, his past catches up with him, as a corrupt union boss, corporate conspiracies, and a local gang all decide to come for him within the same week. It sounds like it could be the setup for a solid action-thriller. Instead, it's a confusing slog where nothing feels earned and everything feels off.
Let's be honest-no one watches a Statham movie expecting Shakespeare. But The Working Man seems to forget that it's supposed to entertain. For long stretches, the film focuses on Roy trying to punch in on time, having awkward conversations with his coworkers, and staring into the middle distance while gravelly music plays. When the action finally shows up, it's clunky, uninspired, and shot in such tight close-ups that you can barely tell who's hitting who.
Statham is clearly trying to go for something more "serious" here, but the script gives him nothing to work with. Roy is meant to be a tortured soul, haunted by violence and struggling to adapt to normal life. But instead of pathos, we get long silences, generic monologues about "just wanting peace," and scenes where he fixes a forklift like it's the most emotionally charged thing on Earth. The film seems to think showing him welding in slow motion will somehow convey inner turmoil. It doesn't-it just feels like filler.
The supporting cast doesn't help. There's a token love interest who appears out of nowhere and disappears just as fast. The villain is a mustache-twirling CEO-type who delivers lines like, "You can't stop progress, Cutter!" with a straight face. And the big third-act twist? It's so obvious that you'll see it coming 40 minutes before the movie does, and yet it still manages to feel out of place.
Worst of all, The Working Man takes itself way too seriously. There's no wink, no self-awareness, no fun. It's all grim faces, industrial lighting, and a color palette stolen from a used ashtray. If this movie had just leaned into the ridiculousness of its premise-Statham in a hard hat, solving workplace disputes with roundhouse kicks-it could've been a blast. Instead, it tries to be a meaningful, grounded drama and ends up as a weird, boring mess.
The pacing is brutal. Scenes drag on for no reason, dialogue goes nowhere, and every emotional beat lands with the impact of a wet tissue. The score tries its best to inject drama, but it's so overbearing it ends up being more distracting than helpful. And by the time the climax rolls around-where Roy finally "snaps" and beats up an entire security team in the factory-you're just glad it's almost over.
The Working Man is a movie that doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. It's not exciting enough to be an action film, not smart enough to be a drama, and not weird enough to be a cult classic. It's just... there. And that might be the most damning thing you can say about a Jason Statham.
