A Man of Action review: A snappy David v. Goliath retelling

Netflix’s drama ‘A Man of Action’ retells the real-life story of the Paris-based Spanish anarchist Lucio Urtubia. A bricklayer, a bank robber, and a forger — Urtubia becomes a popular voice for the anarchist movement while fighting the world’s biggest banks.

Story

Lucio Urtubia, a Spanish man who bears resentment against the banks moves to Paris and eventually gets familiar with an anarchist movement. Budding up with fellow anarchists while doing a job as a bricklayer, Lucio becomes a fierce voice for the ideology.

Soon, he starts robbing banks with Quico Sabaté and helps the movement with some of the loot every time. However, when the police close in, he has to part ways with Sabaté and start a small group focused on bank expropriation.

With the help of Arturiano, Patrick, and Petite Jeanne, Lucio begins expropriating banks with fake dollar bills. Working alongside him is his new girlfriend Anne, another rebellious spirit and intelligent woman.

Later, the police arrest him and he has to spend some time in jail, during which he saves another inmate Charlie and befriends him. After his release, his anarchist efforts go cold and he focuses on his wife Anne and his daughter Juliette.

Eight years later, however, the increasing use of traveller checks gives Lucio an idea for another expropriation operation and helping other anarchists from it. He beings forging checks with his pals and other anarchists and quickly gains notoriety.

The City Bank executives send their man to Paris to deal with the concerning problem. Before their last play at a huge cash-in, Lucio and his pals are arrested, but shortly thereafter, they all get bail except for Lucio.

The ending of ‘A Man of Action’ sees Lucio strike a deal with City Bank, following which all charges against him are dropped and he gets to financially support the anarchist movement with a significant amount of money, ultimately reuniting with his family as well.

Performances

The script and the settings, based on real-life events, ask for the actors to switch between different languages. All the characters required to deliver lines in different languages do so with a commendable finesse.

The performances delivered by the leads are great but overall, ‘A Man of Action’ is nothing to run home about in terms of the acting prowess flexed on screen.

Positives

‘A Man of Action’ is a fast-paced retelling of real events that took place from the 40s right to the 70s. The concise nature of the storytelling provides for a fun binge experience.

The snappy editing lends to the commendable pacing, along with a couple of creative moments early on in the film.

Negatives

With the significant amount of real-life pedigree that the story can thrive off of, the film doesn’t feel like a grand retelling of events that should have felt much more cinematic.

The film suffers from the trite colour palette that nearly every other contemporary movie suffers with, which can take one out of the narrative momentarily and feel rather incongruent with the period-specific environment that the scenes otherwise exhibit.

Verdict

Although not nearly as remarkable of a cinematic feat as the many tremendous, world-changing feats of the character it tells the story of, ‘A Man of Action’ is a concise, fast-paced, and entertaining flick that’s worth the binge.

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Also Read: A Man of Action ending explained: How does Lucio avoid prison time?