aka Jason Statam does a John Wick. Wait a minute.. didn't he just do a John Wick? Yes, yes he did.. however this time we've got the same director but a script by Sly Stallone. A sure fire hit!
In the Working Man Statam is an Ex-Special Forces guy that gets embroiled in Russian Mob hijinks when his boss's daughter gets randomly kidnapped. If this sounds very generic.. it is. Usually in these action movies there is just enough story to string the action sequences together and give you just enough investment to enjoy them. However Working Man was apparently intended to be a TV series and it shows. The pacing is all off, the focus is not on the action but the mob hijinks which quickly becomes tedious.
There's also a number of exteneous characters and sub plots that never become relevant but work to overload the story and drag the whole thing down to a crawl. For example Statam has a daughter he only has limited visitation with because he's fighting with his Wife's family over custody because they blame him for her death. It wasn't his fault but they blame him anyway. He's also got money problems and is basically homeless even though he's a foreman at his friends apparently lucrative development business.. yet he drives expensive cars. Also for no apparent reason David Harbor is his blind military buddy. None of this becomes relevant yet a large portion of the script is spent on them. Once again this was a book series intended to be a TV show which probably explains this whole mess.
When there's action it's fine but there's not enough to overcome the slog of a story which plays out like a long form police procedural but never quite works.
If you need a Statam John Wick fix just watch The Beekeeper again.. or any of his myriad of other action films. You'll be better off.
