A Working Man

2025 Amazon MGM Studios

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 56min

Action ~ Thriller

Starring: Jason Statham, Michael Peña, Jason Flemyng and David Harbour.

HUMAN TRAFFICKERS BEWARE!

Jason Statham stars as Levon Cade, a construction foreman on a big commercial job in Chicago, Illinois. He works for Joe Garcia, his wife and their daughter Jenny. As the movie opens we see Levon waking up in his truck and getting out and unlocking the gates to the construction site. As the men come in to start their shift Levon gives them a morning pep talk before they all go to work. Shortly thereafter a group of men pull up in a pick up truck, get out and start to harass and beat on one of Levon’s workers. Levon grabs a metal bucket full of nails and just like that, Jason Statham is back in action. A construction site battle ensues and Jason proceeds to kick all their butts and sends them packing……

Jenny sees the fight and has a conversation with Levon about it. Levon promises Jenny that he will always have her back, no matter what, if she needs anything, gets into any trouble to let him know…….

That night Jenny goes out on the town to celebrate her first semester of school being over with some friends. While in the bar and helping one of her drunk friends get to the bathroom, Jenny is abducted. Her parents contact the police and Joe asks Levon for his help, knowing that he is ex special ops. At first Levon refuses saying, he’s a changed man……

But Levon’s promise to Jenny to always have her back starts to eat away at him and he decides that he must go find Jenny and bring her home…….

And that’s where the fun begins! Levon goes to work doing what he does best. He has a mission and won’t stop until the objective is achieved, no matter the human cost…….

I am a Jason Statham fan and this is another good one. It is based upon the book Levon’s Trade: A Vigilante Justice Thriller (Levon Cade) by Chuck Dixon December 8, 2021. The movie was produced and directed by David Ayer, who also produced The Beekeeper starring Jason Statham. Jason and Sylvester Stallone also Co-produced the movie. Just like in The Beekeeper, Jason plays an ex special ops guy who goes after the bad guys to right his world. It is a Jason Statham formula that works every single time.

Once again Jason Statham does not disappoint, It was everything I expected. There is A Working Man 2 sequel in development as we speak. I have to say I am already looking forward to it. I just wonder who is going to get Jason’s wrath next………

The Beekeeper

A Simple Favor

2018 Lionsgate

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 57min

Comedy ~ Mystery ~ Thriller

Directed by: Paul Feig

Starring: Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, Henry Golding, and Andrew Rannells.

What happened to Emily?

Anna Kendrick stars as Stephanie Smothers, a widowed mother of a young boy in Warfield, Connecticut. She is a nerdy over-achieving Mom Vlogger with a dark past and secrets to hide. Her son Miles has become good friends with Nicky whose mother is Emily Nelson (Blake Lively). One day as Stephanie is picking up Miles after school, Nicky and Miles express their desire to hang together and have a “Play-date”. Just as Stephanie tells Nicky they can’t because his mom isn’t there to grant permission, Nicky’s mom Emily arrives to pick up Nicky. The boys beg for permission and Emily asks Stephanie if she wants to go to her house for an adult beverage while the kids play.

Stephanie and Emily become good friends and Emily starts asking Stephanie for small favors…..”I have A Small Favor to ask…” starting with watching or picking up her son Nicky because she is very busy with her work. Things progress with Stephanie seeing Miles more than her mother Emily until one day Emily tells Stephanie that she has an emergency trip she must make to Miami for business. Days pass and Stephanie becomes more and more concerned about Emily as she seems to have vanished. Stephanie goes to Emily’s office to find answers and discovers a picture of Emily with the caption “Gotta have Faith”. Sensing a clue, she steals the picture and the mailer that it came in from her office.

Stephanie turns into a private detective and starts investigating Emily’s past and whereabouts and, thanks to a tip from one of her Vlog viewers, uncovers Emily’s dark past. All the while broadcasting her progress on her Vlog. It is interesting how Stephanie in the beginning seems like a nerdy goody two shoes but evolves into a super sleuth with her own dark secrets.

The movie is based on the Novel A Simple Favor by Darcy Bell. I love the twists and turns in this film, ones you never see coming. It is an interesting performance by Anna Kendrick as the nerdy do good single Mom who becomes caught up in the dark and sinister plot involving Emily and her dark past. Blake Lively from the beginning as Emily hints at deeper and darker things to come, you just get the sense there is trouble boiling beneath the surface.

I have seen this movie at least once before, actually I think I did watch it when it first came out and again about two years ago. I watched it last night before I watch Another Simple Favor, the sequel (Now Streaming On Amazon Prime) tonight. I am a couple of days behind given it came out on Thursday but My father ended up in the hospital and threw things off a bit. The good news is he is home and doing well and tonight we get to watch Anna Kendrick in action again!

Companion

2025 Warner Brothers

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 37min

Fantasy ~ Horror ~ Sci-Fi ~ Suspense ~ Thriller

Directed by: Drew Hancock

Starring: Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Harvey Guillén, and Rupert Friend.

Find someone made just for you.

The Movie starts with this scene in a grocery store. It is when Iris and Josh first met…..

Iris is shopping in the grocery store pushing a grocery cart, when she sees peaches displayed in the produce department. She stops and picks up a peach, smells it, and looks up to see a guy named Josh smiling at her. He walks around to the front of her cart near an orange display, and attempting to make small talk, grabs an orange. All the oranges in the display fall onto the floor…..He sheepishly starts to laugh and Iris starts to laugh too. Josh says, “Well That was smooth..” and laughs. Iris agrees as she laughs and smiles at him, “Yeah…So smooth.

As this voiceover from Iris plays:

Most the time it’s like, I don’t know, it’s like there’s this thick black cloud covering everything.

Like we see the world but, we don’t really see the world, you know?

We’re all just stumbling around. Directionless. No sense of meaning. No sense of purpose.

I know that might sound super depressing but honestly, I think it’s a good thing.

Because it makes us appreciate the other times.

Those brief transcendent moments when the lights flicker on, the black cloud parts and you see the world for what it really is.

And suddenly there’s meaning. Suddenly there’s purpose.

If you’re lucky you’ll experience this once in your lifetime.

For me, it happened twice.

The first was the day I met Josh.

And the second…..the day I killed him.

“Iris, Wake Up” Josh says. Iris wakes up, yawns and asks Josh, “How long was I out?” “You’ve been out for awhile now, what were you dreaming about?” Iris answers, “I was dreaming about when we first met.” They are driving in Josh’s self driving autonomous car to a friend’s house out in the countryside for a weekend getaway. They are meeting with some other friends to spend the weekend together and have some fun. The house belongs to Sergey, a shady Russian business man “whose hands are in some dirty business”, so he says.

Eli and his lover Patrick have already arrived and Josh and Iris pull up and park next to their car. As they enter the house they are greeted by Kat, who Iris is convinced doesn’t like her very much. Patrick is cooking, Sergey is drinking and making drinks for everyone else and Eli comes downstairs to greet Josh and Iris. And the weekend begins! There is food, there is drink, there is dancing, a fun time for all, let the good times roll!

But not for long! Soon things spiral out of control and not in the way it was intended! For there is more to this little planned getaway than meets the eye, as there is to Iris, Patrick, Josh and Kat. Sometimes the bad guy isn’t who you think it is, or is it. Just when you think you know what is going to happen, it goes in a completely different direction. And when you think you have that figured out, guess again. Nope, you’re wrong!

There are shades of Subservience and M3GAN in this movie. Yes, there are A.I. Robots, but you think they turn bad and run amok. Not nese-celery! New word I made up! Anyway, I thought Sophie Thatcher was great as Iris. I really liked her in this. Great job I say. And Jack Quaid as well, I just found out he is the son of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan, how about that! I love the story and the twists and turns, and I am fond of the Sci-Fi AI Robot genre of things. I am a big Bladerunner fan and love both of those futuristic AI Robotic humanoid filled movies. It is a twisty turny thrilling Sci-Fi Movie that leaves you rooting for who you thought was the bad guy in the end.

Yes, yes and yes on Companion.

I am a Sophie Thatcher and Companion Fan now!

Two Thumbs Up!

Sisu

2022 Lionsgate

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 31min

Action ~ War ~ Thriller

Directed by: Jalmari Helander

Starring: Jorma Tommila, alongside Aksel Hennie, Jack Doolan, Mimosa Willamo and Onni Tommila.

Vengeance is Golden

FROM THE OFFICIAL SISU MOVIE WEBSITE:

During the last desperate days of WWII, a solitary prospector (Jorma Tommila) crosses paths with Nazis on a scorched earth retreat in northern Finland. When the Nazis steal his gold, they quickly discover that they have just tangled with no ordinary miner.

While there is no direct translation for the Finnish word SISU, this legendary ex-commando will embody what SISU means: A white knuckled form of courage and unimaginable determination in the face of overwhelming odds. And no matter what the Nazis throw at him, the one man death squad will go to outrageous lengths to get his gold back – even if it means killing every last Nazi in his path.

SISU THE MOVIE:

Starts with the description:

SISU

is a Finnish word that cannot be translated.

It means a white-knuckled form of courage

and unimaginable determination.

Sisu manifests itself when all hope is lost.

1944

Then we see the lone prospector and his dog panning for gold in a stream. Then:

CHAPTER 1: THE GOLD

comes on the screen and the prospector finds a sliver of gold in the creek. He starts to dig around the stream looking for the vein of gold and indeed finds the vein of gold. He digs it up and fills his saddle bags with the gold. Then he loads up on his horse and heads out on the long road to town followed by his dog. On the way he encounters The Nazis……

CHAPTER 2: THE NAZIS

And a Minefield that the Nazis planted as they were leaving Finland……..

CHAPTER 3: MINEFIELD

And we find out who the prospector really is and why he is ………..

CHAPTER 4: THE LEGEND

Scorched Earth is the policy the Nazis had on their retreat out of Finland, it is also now the prospectors policy………..

CHAPTER 5: SCORCHED EARTH

And along with some new friends, they want to………

CHAPTER 6: KILL ‘EM ALL

THE REVIEW:

The Scenery, filmography and special effects:

The scenery of untouched Finland unravaged by Nazi hands….Beautiful. As the Nazis start to enter the frame and the land they have touched, the filmography echoes that. Colors fade into the grey of war and the evilness of the Nazi war machine. The special effects were awesome. Explosions, horrific graphic violence, lots of blood and body parts, and fog…lots of fog.

The Legend:

The prospector character was loosely based on a WWII Finnish sniper who reportedly killed over 500 Nazis. He is played by Finnish actor Jorma Tomilla, a mild mannered actor in real life. He transformed himself into a complete bad-ass in this movie. I say well done to that transformation and great job acting as The Legend. He never says a word until the very last scene in the movie and conveys so much without uttering a single word throughout the rest of the movie. Interestingly enough Jorma’s son is also an actor and played one of the Nazis in the movie.

The Dog:

The prospector’s dog is a Bedlington Terrier which looks slightly like a wild poodle. The director had his mind set on a more vicious dog breed for the movie but when he saw Jorma Tomilla’s dog he decided to use him instead. You can see the bond the two have in real life coming through in the scenes in the movie. Personally I think the Dog was the second best actor in the film, right after Jorma.

My final words(Promise):

It reminded me of INGLORIUS BASTARDS, that movie was also laid out in Chapters. And obviously because of WWII and The Nazis but also because of the over the top violence. It was almost as if parts of it were a horror/slasher movie. Make no mistake, there is lots of violence and it is horrific, but in a horror movie type of way. Even though this is a war movie I think it borders on some good old fashioned horror, kind of like Strange Darling or Ready Or Not. It reminds me of Strange Darling in how the movie is laid out in chapters also.

I loved this movie, I loved everything about it. The story, the legend, the dog, the women. I am a fan and am ready for SISU 2. Bring it on……..

Mimosa Willamo as Aino in SISU. Copyright Freezing Point Oy.
Photo Credit: Antii Rastivo
Courtesy of Lionsgate

Jorma Tommila as Aatami Korpi in SISU. Credit: Copyright Freezing Point Oy, photographer Antti Rastivo

Plane

2023 Lionsgate

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 47min

Action ~ Adventure ~ Thriller

Directed by: Jean-François Richet

Starring: Gerard Butler, Mike Colter, Yoson An, and Tony Goldwyn.

“The crash was only the beginning…….”

Gerard Butler stars as Captain Brodie Torrance, an airline Pilot for Trailblazer Airlines. He is piloting Flight 119 on New Years Day from Singapore to Tokyo. There are 114 passengers and three crew members on board. At the last minute Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter), a fugitive wanted for murder is being brought on to the plane by the police. Handcuffed and with a police escort, he is escorted to the back of the plane. As Captain Brodie and his Co-Pilot Samuel Dele (Yoson An) prepare to take-off they notice that their flight plan takes them right through a very bad storm.

The Flight Director assures them that they will be fine flying into the storm. It is a shortcut and if they fly high enough they should avoid the worst of the storm. They take-off and shortly after encounter the storm. They climb high enough to avoid the turbulence, and at first everything seems to be ok. Then all of a sudden there is a lightning strike and the plane loses it’s avionics. As it gets tossed around, Captain Brodie takes a good hit to the side of his head. The Officer escorting Louis Gaspare and a stewardess who were unbuckled get knocked around like a couple of rag dolls and are killed.

Captain Brodie decides to use the ten minutes of battery power they have left to land as quickly and safely as possible, otherwise they will drop out of the sky and crash. They bring the plane under control and prepare to land in the water, but at the last possible moment Captain Brodie sees land. They manage to land on a dirt road and stop the plane with minimal damage but soon realize that it is a hostile island with no authorities. Gangsters and criminals run the island and Captain Brodie and Louis Gaspare team up to find a way to get the passengers out safely.

Like the tagline says, “The crash was only the beginning……..” It is a thrilling action adventure that will keep you on your toes. Gerard Butler is a bad-ass in this right behind Mike Colter who completely goes rogue and mercenary on the local criminal population. There is a lot of tense drama as they fight their way through trying to escape. Gerard Butler did a movie I reviewed last year entitled Last Seen Alive. I gave it and Gerard a pretty negative review, BUT he redeemed himself with this one. The Gerard Butler I’m used to, the down to earth normal guy who’s not afraid to kick your ass if he needs to. Anything he needs to do to save his passengers. He is the Captain and they are his responsibility and he takes that very seriously.

Yup, this is a good one!

Two Thumbs Up!