There was a time early in The Legionnaire’s existence when I would ask on social media for suggestions.  Now that I have reviewed over 2,000 films, I no longer ask.  It is not that I do not want input from fans and friends.  The problem I encountered is that most of the time I am given titles already covered.  The usual selections made for me are familiar movies.  Because I recognize that familiarity, normally I have already provided my thoughts on them.  Another factor is those who try to think of examples that they believe have a Catholic angle.  Since this is what I do, I am practiced at drawing out Christian themes that might not be so obvious.  Sometimes even I struggle with this, so most do not try.  Having said all this, I will occasionally ask at random if there is a piece of cinema someone would like me to see.  I did this today with my good friend and YouTube partner, Isaac.  He gave me A Working Man.  I have been avoiding it until now because, if you have seen any of Jason Statham’s work in the past few years, you have seen this movie.  If I have just described you, then you can tell me if you think this is any different.

During the opening credits of A Working Man, Levon Cade (Jason Statham), is described as a former serviceman with the United Kingdom’s Royal Marines.  After shooting his way through those first few moments, he settles down in Chicago for the life of a construction foreman.  He works for real estate developer Joe Garcia (Michael Peña) and his wife, Carla Garcia (Noemi Gonzalez).  In addition to being protective of the Garcia’s construction crew, Levon looks out for their daughter, Jenny Garcia (Arianna Rivas).  It also helps that Levon has a daughter of his own, Merry Cade (Isla Gie), though that situation is complicated.  Merry’s mother had killed herself while Levon was deployed, and the court has deemed him too volatile to raise Merry.  As such, she is being raised by Jordan Roth (Richard Heap), Merry’s rich, yoga pants wearing grandfather.  Hey, I am just telling you how the movie presented him.  Jordan maintains that Levon is violent, the result of unresolved post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and is trying to restrict further Levon’s interactions with Merry.  As this small drama plays out, Jenny goes out with her friends to celebrate the end of her first year (semester?) in college.  In the midst of her revelry, she is being followed by a man named Viper (Emmett J. Scanlan).  As she helps a friend who has overindulged in the bathroom, he kidnaps her as they are returning to their table.  When Levon arrives at work the following Monday, he notices police vehicles leaving the construction site office.  Upon entering, Carla and Joe inform Levon what has happened to Jenny.  According to Joe, such cases are never handled properly by the police.  As such, he offers thousands of dollars to Levon to find Jenny, citing the fact that the foreman is ex-military.  Levon initially refuses, saying that he no longer does that kind of work.  Yet, he next visits Gunny Lefferty (David Harbour), a former comrade in arms.  What Levon is looking for is permission to re-engage in violence, seeking it from somebody he considers to be a commanding presence in his life in Gunny.  With that squared away, and informing Joe of his change of heart, Levon goes to work.  It is also at this point that the movie goes off the rails.  Levon finds the barkeep at the establishment from which Jenny was abducted.  This person is initially reticent to talk, nor does he get a chance to as two other thugs show up at his apartment.  The other three die in the resulting gunfight, but Levon is able to ascertain from tattoos that he is dealing with the Russian mafia.  I guess he just knows that more of these criminals are going to appear at this location because he stakes it out, leading him to Wolo Kolisnyk (Jason Flemyng).  After some threatening, the only information Levon is provided is the name of Wolo’s son, Dimi Kolisnyk (Maximilian Osinski).  With that, Levon drowns Wolo, then calls another longtime army buddy (Bookeem Woodbine) now with Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).  Levon is told that Dimi is high up in Russian organized crime, something one would guess he already knew?  Anyway, to get to Dimi, Levon decides to go into the drug business.  He heads to a biker bar outside of Chicago where the Russians get their supply.  This eventually brings him to Dimi, but they quickly figure out that Levon is not the up-and-coming narcotics tycoon he claims.  Because of this gaff, those above Dimi are not happy with him bringing a stranger into their operation.  At the same time, the Russians do what they can to threaten Levon.  This involves going after Merry.  However, the henchman sent to kidnap the little girl find Jordan instead.  What alerts Levon to this threat is when he is called regarding Merry, who has not been picked up from school.  Once he collects his daughter, he goes to her grandfather’s house and is able to pull Jordan from his burning house.  To keep Merry safe, Levon takes her to Gunny’s house (despite the fact that he is blind), who also provides Levon with the arsenal he will need to complete his work.  The first move is to collect Dimi, who takes Levon to where Jenny is being kept.  There is the requisite amount of explosions and shooting with the end result being Jenny and Levon riding away safely.  There are then a couple happy reunions and the movie ends.

The people who are not happy about the way A Working Man ends are the Russians.  This is worth noting because it one point Levon is told that by messing with this family, they will swear a blood debt against him for the next three generations.  Thank God I have never had to deal with such a situation, but if I had this information in the back of my mind, I might be more inclined to finish the job.  In fairness, the Russian “godfather,” for lack of a better term, Yuri (Merab Ninidze), is told to not pursue the matter any further by the other crime bosses.  Does that make sense?  I wish the mafia, many of whom, sadly, call themselves Catholics, would let bygones be bygones, but when does that ever happen in movies?  In other words, there are large sections of the plot that remain unresolved.  Then again, the same could be said for Levon in general.  At one point, he can be seen wearing a t-shirt that says “Pro 1 11.”  On the back is the Scripture verse, which is Proverbs 1:11, and it reads: “. . . do not go if they say, “Come along with us! Let us lie in wait for blood, unprovoked, let us trap the innocent.”  To just look at these lines, you might wonder why a supposed protagonist would be displaying words that seem to suggest ill intent.  Further context is required, which is the previous verse, reading, “My son, should sinners entice you,” and then into verse eleven.  Put differently, it is a message of warning to not be led astray.  Levon had been trying to lead a peaceful life, but sinners have come along to disrupt it.  Any one of us would do as Jordan recommends and let the police handle it.  However, if Levon followed this advice, there would be no movie.

Yet, is A Working Man a movie?  There is no arc for the main character, unless you count going from peaceful to violent as one.  I do not.  Rather, this is merely a vehicle to show Statham doing action stuff, which is not my favorite viewing material.  I might have been inclined to give it a pass since it is set in Chicago, but there is nothing intrinsically Chicago about it.  Thus, this one is a hard pass.