“Of course I keep a vigilante on the payroll, don’t you?” This may as well be the dialogue of construction site boss Michael Peña when asked about the lawless go-getter who has vowed to return his kidnapped daughter.
Nineteen-year-old future CEO Jenny (Arianna Rivas) has been taken for the purposes of sexual slavery, which -I think- is the equally preposterous premise in Taken. But here the guy going after the villains is unrelated to the victim, just a “friend of the family.”
WOW. One might ask: “How Right Wing can a film be?” And I give you A Working Man – where the good guys are construction people, a woman is kidnapped not for money but for sexual slavery, vigilantism is necessary because of crooked cops, and the vigilante in question is an employee of the man who has been wronged. Because of course he is. Joe (Peña) is a big deal CEO; he’s earned the right to pawn off his responsibilities on the help. Don’t kid yourself; this film lends justification for people who employ mercenaries.
Oh, but one big mistake, RWers – the villains here are Russian mob and Russian funded. (Psst … the Russians are friends now; Trump said so.) But other than that, enjoy this world of vigilantism and mercenary bloodlust where every transaction involves somebody with a brick of bills and every drug on camera gets literally flushed down the toilet.
Levon Cade (Jason Statham) is an ex-Royal Marines Commando. Despite being steadily employed in a position of power and having neither a hobby, nor a drug problem, Levon hasn’t got enough 
dough to have an address. Yeah, that tracks. Next, he’ll be deported along with Peña. Before that happens, however, he’s got a particular set of skills, and he plans to use them. Anybody seeing Taken here?
A Working Man is one of those films in which you never run out of bad guys. There’s ass-kicking and gun-wielding a-plenty, but there are also some quite unbelievable turns along the way. I mean, kidnap, right? KIDNAP. The one thing we lay-people know about kidnap is “you have to act fast. There’s a time limit on kidnappings before you get nothing back.” So, what does the plot introduce? Cade going undercover as a minor druglord. Oh, you got time for undercover cosplay to earn trust while the clock is ticking? Sure. Sure you do. Go back with your blue meth and pretend you sold it all; I’m sure you’ll move up the ladder in six to seven months, easy. Good luck, Jenny!
This wasn’t a terrible film, but it sure wasn’t a great film either. Statham is now 57. How long will he remain an ass-kicker on screen do you think?
There was once an immigrant named Cade
He was required to come to the aid
A kidnapee in need
Was in trouble, indeed
Let’s just say a lot of bad guys were slayed
Rated R, 116 Minutes
Director: David Ayer
Writer: Sylvester Stallone, David Ayer, Chuck Dixon
Genre: Job opportunities
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: The vigilante sympathetic
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Bad Guys
