A Working Man arrives as one of those Jason Statham vehicles where the plot technically matters, but only in the way a coat hanger matters to a winter jacket. It’s there, it holds everything up, but no one’s coming for the hanger. Directed by David Ayer, who previously teamed with Statham on The Beekeeper, the film adapts Chuck Dixon’s novel Levon’s Trade into a blue-collar revenge odyssey where Statham’s accent is simply “Statham,” and realism checks out the moment the first goon flies across a room.
The movie dropped on March 28, 2025, distributed by Amazon MGM Studios in the U.S. and Warner Bros. in the U.K., ultimately pulling in a respectable $98 million worldwide against a $40 million budget. Critics shrugged, audiences cheered, and Statham added yet another notch to his growing list of stoic, punch-first folk heroes.
Aggregate Score Comparison
| Aggregate Score | Rating | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Rotten Tomatoes (Critics) | 50% | 90+ reviews – Mixed |
| Rotten Tomatoes (Audience) | 89% | Verified audience – Strong |
| Metacritic (Critics) | 55/100 | 31 reviews – Mixed |
| IMDb | 5.7/10 | 68,000+ ratings |
| Letterboxd | 2.8/5 | 108,000+ ratings |
| Average Critical Score | 56.0/100 | Cross-metric average |
Plot Synopsis
Levon Cade (Jason Statham) spends his days running a construction crew in Chicago, trying to live a life that doesn’t involve bullets whizzing past his head. His employers, Joe Garcia (Michael Peña), Carla (Noemi Gonzalez), and their teenage daughter Jenny, treat him like family. It’s the kind of modest, dust-covered peace that characters like Statham’s never get to keep for long.
But Levon carries a wound deeper than any combat scar. His wife died by suicide while he was deployed, leaving him to fight for custody of his daughter, Merry. That fight is blocked at every turn by his wealthy, cold-as-granite father-in-law Jordan Roth, who thinks Levon drags violence behind him like a storm cloud.
Then Jenny disappears. One weekend out with friends turns into a nightmare by Monday morning. Joe and Carla beg Levon for help, aware of the highly classified military past he tries so hard to bury. Levon refuses at first. Of course he does. But it takes him less than a minute to break his own rule. He made Jenny a promise—he’d always have her back. Codes matter in this kind of movie, maybe more than laws.
The trail leads Levon straight into the machinery of a Russian human-trafficking network—run with bureaucratic efficiency by Symon Kharchenko (Andrej Kaminsky). Helping him along the way is Gunny Lefferty (David Harbour), a blind Marine Raider with enough weapons to start a private conflict. Together they stalk leads, break bones, and crash through the criminal underworld until the film barrels into a brothel raid that serves as the story’s inevitable crescendo.
Critical Reception & Ratings
The reaction to A Working Man split the room in half. Critics mostly shrugged. Audiences roared. It became one of 2025’s biggest critic-vs-audience divides—a reminder that some films are built for Friday-night adrenaline, not scholarly dissection.
Rotten Tomatoes Divide
On Rotten Tomatoes, critics handed the film a flat 50%. The consensus painted it as a no-frills Statham romp—efficient, loud, workmanlike, and not particularly concerned with personality.
Audiences, however, pushed the score up to a blazing 89% Verified Audience rating, earning the rare “Verified Hot” badge. That score places it among the top five Statham audience-favorites ever—edging out Hobbs & Shaw and landing just under Wrath of Man.
Metacritic Assessment
Metacritic sits firmly in the middle at 55, labeling the film “mixed or average.” Users there weren’t much kinder, scoring it 5.9/10—divided evenly between positive, mixed, and negative responses.
IMDb & Letterboxd
On IMDb, the movie sits at 5.7/10 from more than 68,000 ratings. Over on Letterboxd, it pulls a 2.8/5 from over 108,000 users—a mix of amused praise, brutal takedowns, and plenty of comparisons to better action flicks.
Now that the scene is set, the deeper dive begins. In the next section, we’ll break down every major critic, their scores, their complaints, and where audiences pushed back.
Critical Reception & Ratings
If there’s one thing A Working Man manages to stir up, it’s disagreement. Critics mostly shrugged. Audiences, meanwhile, showed up like Statham punched out a bat signal just for them. This split became one of the more dramatic critic-vs-viewer divides of 2025, the kind that makes box-office analysts scratch their heads while fans simply enjoy the ride.
Rotten Tomatoes Divide
The film sits at 50% on Rotten Tomatoes, a clean split that mirrors the movie’s vibe: half of reviewers calling it functional, the other half calling it forgettable. According to the official Rotten Tomatoes page, the critical consensus frames it as an efficient but personality-light Statham vehicle. Nothing surprising. Nothing daring. Just a guy clocking in and out, wrecking bones in between.
Audiences, however, told a very different story. The Verified Audience Score hit 89%—one of the strongest reactions of Statham’s career. ScreenRant’s coverage highlighted how unusual the enthusiasm was, noting the score landed in Statham’s top five films among viewers. That 39-point gulf between critics and audiences became a talking point all on its own.
Metacritic Assessment
Things stay lukewarm on Metacritic, where the film holds a 55/100 from critics—squarely in “mixed or average” territory. Users weren’t wildly impressed either, landing at 5.9/10. It’s the kind of reaction that suggests the movie works fine if you like this genre, and not at all if you don’t.
IMDb Ratings
On IMDb, viewers scored the film 5.7/10 from over 68,000 ratings—moderate, steady, and exactly what you’d expect for a down-the-middle action thriller. It’s the kind of score that won’t scare off Statham fans but won’t lure in anyone outside the usual orbit either.
Letterboxd Community
Over on Letterboxd, the film averages 2.8 out of 5 stars across more than 100,000 logged views. The curve leans heavily toward middling ratings, with most users landing between 2 and 3 stars. The comments swing from “serviceable Statham carnage” to “I miss when action movies tried.”
Individual Critical Reviews
The individual write-ups range from polite nods to eye-rolling dismissals. It’s the standard spectrum for a mid-budget American action flick—but the wording is colorful enough to give the story texture.
The Globe and Mail was among the most positive, awarding 75/100 and noting that Statham is “solid as ever,” even if nothing in the film pushes him. Their review, published in the IMDb-indexed critic roundup, calls the film predictable but competently staged.
The Hollywood Reporter landed at 70/100, praising Statham’s “simmering charisma.” Their take frames him as a believable menace—even when the script forgets to give him anything meaningful to say.
Robert Daniels at RogerEbert.com landed at 50/100, writing a review that feels like the movie’s soul in miniature: tough-skinned, a little weary, and running on pure genre fumes. Daniels describes the script as “standard-issue” and notes that the film’s emotional threads never stretch beyond surface level. His full review is available on RogerEbert.com.
Detroit Cineaste clocked in at 60/100, calling the film a serviceable throwback to ’80s lone-wolf action flicks. Their review, hosted on DetroitCineaste.net, highlights the blend of “outlandish villains” and visually striking sets, though they note that the tone stays so serious the fun sometimes leaks out.
The Guardian was less charitable, offering 2/5 stars and criticizing its earnest tone paired with unintentionally comedic use of Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata.” Peter Bradshaw’s review on The Guardian describes the dialogue as “clunky,” especially when Russian accents are involved.
Pajiba dropped the hammer with a 30/100, publishing a review titled, with zero hesitation, “David Ayer Needs To Be Stopped.” Kayleigh Donaldson’s critique—available on Pajiba—argues that Statham deserves better material than the film gives him.
Collider also sat at 60/100, noting the slow pacing and inconsistent tension. Their review, on Collider, acknowledges that some of the violence works, even if the connective tissue between set pieces sometimes frays.
Hollywood News Source called the movie a “dude film,” landing at 2.5/5. Their review—available on Hollywood News Source—suggests Statham fans will see what they came for, even if the movie never hits his high watermark.
Wach the Trailer
Genre Classification
A Working Man straddles several action-heavy subgenres, most of them familiar terrain for Statham. Depending on which scene you’re watching, it’s either leaning into gritty vigilantism or drifting into pulpier territory.
| Genre Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Action Thriller | Fast, blunt combat set pieces driven by a high-stakes rescue plot. |
| Revenge Thriller | The story revolves around a personal code and retaliation against criminal forces. |
| Human Trafficking Drama | Touches on themes of exploitation and underground networks. |
| Blue-Collar Action | A rare spotlight on a working-class hero whose day job involves steel instead of espionage. |
The movie carries an R rating for violence, language, and drug-related content, as listed on its official trailer and distributor notes.
Box Office Performance
A Working Man didn’t explode at the box office, but it carried itself with enough bruised determination to cross respectable territory. Opening weekend brought in $15.5 million domestically, a number confirmed by the data over at Box Office Mojo. That was enough to bump Disney’s Snow White from the top spot, a small but amusing upset that mirrors the film’s own blue-collar swagger.
The domestic run eventually reached $37 million, while international markets added another $61 million. Global revenue settled at $98 million, according to The Numbers. That puts the film just shy of the $100 million line—but still at roughly 2.5× its production budget. In practical terms, it’s a break-even result with a modest shade of success, especially once digital sales kicked in.
International Performance Breakdown
| Market | Gross |
|---|---|
| China | $6.1 million |
| Saudi Arabia | $4.4 million |
| Germany | $4.3 million |
| Russia / CIS | $3.9 million |
| United Arab Emirates | $3.2 million |
| Mexico | $2.9 million |
| United Kingdom | $2.4 million |
| Australia | $2.4 million |
Much of the overseas strength came from action-friendly regions where Statham remains a dependable draw. China and the Middle East, in particular, posted steady numbers. Nothing astronomical. Nothing limp either. Just consistent performance—the kind that keeps an action star’s global reputation humming.
Major Criticisms
Plot Predictability
A recurring theme in professional reviews is the script’s predictability. RogerEbert.com summed it up bluntly: “Nothing surprising happens.” Even fans on Reddit echoed the sentiment, calling it a familiar remix of Taken and The Equalizer.
Screenplay Weaknesses
The writing team of Ayer and Stallone didn’t win many literary awards with this one. Users on IMDb frequently point to clichéd dialogue and thin emotional stakes. It’s a story built from sturdy genre bricks—but none of them are cut especially clean.
Pacing Issues
Some critics also noted that the movie slows down in odd places. Collider’s review mentioned stretches that feel oddly lethargic, as if the film forgets for a moment that it’s an action thriller.
Lack of Stakes
Another common complaint: Levon Cade seems nearly invincible. According to Detroit Cineaste, the absence of injury or struggle makes the fights fun but tension-free—like watching someone ace a video game level they’ve played 300 times.
Plot Holes & Logic Gaps
On the fan side, Reddit threads highlight missing explanations and sudden jumps between narrative beats. A recurring note is how Levon magically finds certain villains with no breadcrumb trail. “It just… happens,” as one viewer put it on Reddit.
Positive Elements
Action Sequences
When the film swings at what it knows—fights, chases, blunt-force intimidation—it rarely misses. Viewers and critics alike point out the motorcycle chase and roadhouse brawl as highlights. Even Daniels at RogerEbert.com called the violence “stomp-fest satisfying.”
The action is also choreographed with enough clarity to avoid the modern curse of jittery camera work. You always know who’s hitting who, and how hard.
Statham’s Charisma
Across nearly every review—from Hollywood News Source to The Guardian—Statham himself is the film’s gravitational center. He has a way of grounding even the most outlandish scenarios with a half-squint, a clenched jaw, and three words delivered like a gravel avalanche.
Production Values
Ayer’s visual instincts show up in the lighting, color palette, and brooding industrial backdrops. The climactic scenes—featuring oversized moons and neon-drenched safehouses—earned praise from Detroit Cineaste as surreal but effective.
Blue-Collar Representation
One interesting note from RogerEbert.com is how the film centers a construction foreman as its action hero. It’s unusual terrain in a genre dominated by cops, assassins, and elite agents. That blue-collar angle gives the movie a kind of working-class grit—even if the realism stops the moment fists start flying.
Audience Response
Audience reactions skew strongly positive. Fans on ScreenRant’s audience score coverage called the movie “unexpectedly satisfying” and “exactly the kind of Statham comfort food” they hoped for. IMDb reviewers leaned toward 7–8/10 when describing it informally, with comments praising the choreography, the kills, and Statham’s stoic one-liners.
On the flip side, Letterboxd detractors dragged the film for “lazy plotting” and “shaky camera choices”—though many admitted the fight scenes were still fun.
Reddit discussions show a middle ground: “Yeah, I liked it,” one user said, “but I probably won’t watch it again.” Yet another pointed out that doubling its budget makes a sequel almost inevitable.
Comparison to The Beekeeper
Because the same director-star duo reunited, the comparisons to The Beekeeper never stopped. According to Collider, the 2024 film was sharper, funnier, and more self-aware, landing at 71% critics and 92% audience on Rotten Tomatoes—far stronger than A Working Man.
Even RogerEbert.com’s Daniels noted that Ayer’s direction here lacks the gleeful absurdity that made The Beekeeper work. Fans on Reddit echoed that they walked in expecting the same flavor—and didn’t quite get it.
Streaming & Home Release
The post-theatrical window came quickly. The movie landed on Amazon Prime Video on May 15, 2025, with additional rentals available on Fandango at Home and most major platforms. It found a second life there—casual viewers seemed far more forgiving from the comfort of their couch.
Final Verdict
A Working Man is exactly what it looks like: a sturdy, straightforward Jason Statham bruiser with just enough emotional scaffolding to hold the action together. Critics weren’t impressed with the formulaic plotting or the muted tension, but audiences made it clear that sometimes you just want to see Statham stomp through a warehouse like a human wrecking ball.
Is it as sharp or knowingly absurd as The Beekeeper? No. Does it deliver the goods fans expect? Absolutely. And that’s why its critic-audience divide might actually be the most revealing thing about it. Professionals saw a routine genre exercise. Viewers saw comfort food—spiced with grit, steel, and the kind of face-punching sincerity only Statham can sell.
Recommended for: Statham loyalists, action junkies, Friday-night couch warriors, and anyone who doesn’t mind a predictable plot as long as the punches land.
Not recommended for: Viewers seeking narrative innovation, critics allergic to tropes, and anyone expecting the creative spark of The Beekeeper.
Statham’s star power isn’t slipping. If anything, A Working Man proves once again that he can carry a film even when the film itself forgets to carry its own weight.
