Following his wife’s murder in a seemingly random hit, an Army Ranger decides to take things in his own hands to solve the case. Permanently.
Written by James Cullen Bressack and David Josh Lawrence with the former also directing, The Workout is a found footage movie that has a whole lot going on and is quite entertaining in that. The story here is revenge story, but one where those seeking revenge are highly trained and capable, leading to their quest being violent and quite effective in eliminating the enemy. The writing here brings in the usual suspects like the mob, a couple of highly trained military types, high stakes, revenge, and the added bit of how to include the cameras for the found footage aspect. The writing here works well and so does the direction.
The cast here is fun to watch with a few giving stronger performances than others. Of course, the lead Peter Jae stands out as Wyatt Park, giving a strong lead performance and guiding the whole story through its twists and turns. Joining him is Josh Kelly as Levi, Park’s brother-in-law. The two of them work well together, bring energy and emotions to their parts and the action. Stealing all the scenes she is in, Augie Duke is likely the strongest performer of the bunch, giving more nuance to her parts and making herself shine in the process. The rest of the cast works decently but most of them do not get enough screen time to truly shine.
Now, onto the found footage aspect, and the cinematography. It must be noted that most found footage films do not work for this reviewer here, usually resulting in migraines, so liking a film from this subgenre is a rarity. The found footage here is made up of many cameras and style of filming, going back and forth between the two, basing more of it on the idea that they need footage for the GoFundMe in place for the new widower. The formats in which the film is shot, using phones, webcams, security cameras, etc, all brought together to show the story works pretty well here and the fact that the majority of the cameras as static and not shaky helps a ton here. Being someone who likes to see that action, there were only a few scenes that didn’t work, the rest worked quite well. The work by director of photography Bryan Koss in bringing the cohesive look to the film through use of multiple shooting styles is to be applauded.
The story and film here came from an Instagram post by Bressack, pulling in some friends in the industry to make a film before his birthday. This led to a lot of information being seen on his Instagram and then boom, this film. This all leads to a found footage film filled with people who wanted to be involved and not just folks cashing in a check like we see far too often. These folks here are talented and know what they are doing, leading to a fun film filled with violence, stunts, and a bunch more heart than you’d expect. The Workout is an entertaining and thrilling action film that makes good use of found footage as a style, making the most of every way to shoot a film. This one is getting the seal of approval from someone who can’t stand found footage, something rare for this viewer.