‘A Man of Action’ Ending Explained: Does Lucio Manage to Defeat the System?
Welcome to the Ending Explained for A Man of Action, a new historical drama film that is being released on Netflix this week. The movie is loosely based on the life of Lucio Urtubia, an anarchist and con man who fought against the capitalist system in Paris. The film is directed by Javier Ruiz Caldera and stars Juan Jose Ballesta, Ken Appledorn, Liah O’Prey, Luis Callejo, and Alexandre Blazy. The movie tells the story of Lucio, from his humble beginnings in Spain to his major anarchist projects in Paris.
A Man of Action is a classic biopic that feels like it takes too many creative liberties with the source material. The result is a movie that presents a series of very serious situations but never actually feels dangerous at all. There is nothing bad about being a safe movie, but it makes a lot of contrast against the main character’s ideals, which are anything but safe. In the end, A Man of Action delivers a fun little adventure that serves very well to pass the time. It might not be the most memorable film ever, but it entertains, fully.
The following paragraphs contain spoilers for A Man of Action. Read at your own risk.
How Does Lucio Become An Anarchist?
The film starts with Lucio as a child living in Spain. We see that he lives on a farm, but his economic situation is clearly not the best. On top of that, he lives only with his sister and his dying father. His father puts him on the task of getting some money to buy morphine so that he can die without the horrible pain he is in. Lucio goes to a bank and tries to ask for a loan, but he is rejected and sent back home empty-handed. This moment, when the banks didn’t allow his father to die in peace, will become a memory that will haunt Lucio forever.
Lucio’s sister, Saturnina, is going to Paris to work as a servant in a house. Lucio wants to follow her, but she convinces him to go and fulfill his military service and then follow her to Paris. Lucio does it, and we jump ten years into the future as Lucio manages to arrive in Paris. He meets her sister, who is now married, and his new brother-in-law manages to get him a job in construction. Lucio talks about how tired he is of receiving orders and how he wants to be free.
At his new job, Lucio meets a group of anarchists who take him under their wing. At this point, Lucio is completely apolitical, but his new friends instruct him on different political ideologies, and there he decides that being an anarchist fits him the best. He also starts developing a friendship with another anarchist named Quico, a bank robber. Lucio starts robbing banks with Quico, and later, when Quico returns to Spain, he keeps doing it. The police are almost always on the verge of arresting him, but he manages to escape.
During a rally at the University of Paris, Lucio meets Anne. He is very straightforward with her, even confessing to her that he is a bank robber. He begs her to join the anarchists, and she does. At the same time, they are clearly developing feelings toward one another. Lucio stops robbing banks and begins forging dollars with his friends and Anne. At first, everything goes well, but finally, the police caught him, and he is sent to jail. Anne, who is pregnant, promises that she and their lawyer will take him out in a week.
Does Lucio Manage To Defeat The System?
The week turns into months and Anne has already delivered the baby while Lucio is in jail. He finally gets released on parole, and he runs to his family. For a while, Lucio focuses on being a bricklayer and stops being a bank robber and a forger. However, when he gets paid with a traveler’s check, he gets an idea and shares it with his friends. They start forging the traveler’s checks and exchanging them at the bank for real money. In one strike, Lucio and his team, along with many volunteers, manage to steal millions from City Bank branch offices in Paris.
This blow reaches the ears of the American City Bank owners. They sent their own agent to deal with Lucio and his team as fast as possible. People have been losing confidence in the traveler’s checks as there are many fake ones running on the streets. Lucio continues hitting the banks with fake checks, but Anne has doubts. She wants to go to Bolivia and help the people there. She says that the struggle needs to be fought on another front. If Lucio keeps going, he might go to jail once again.
Lucio loses Anne and his daughter when they decide to leave for Bolivia, and Lucio stays behind. He believes he can pull off the last hit before retiring. However, he is captured, betrayed by one of his friends, and put behind bars once again. His lawyer manages to get him a provisional release from jail until the date of the trial is decided. Lucio seizes the moment and forges thousands of fake checks, and distributes them among the people. When he is brought back to jail, he says he has something to give in exchange for his freedom.
Lucio proposes to the City Bank agent that he will provide him with the printer layout that prints the fake checks and also his word that he will not make a new fake ever again. If more checks keep appearing, people will stop using checks, and the agent might lose his job. The agent accepts the offer. Lucio goes out of the deal with a ton of money, and the agent says he just saved his entire business for just a tip. Everybody wins. Lucio goes to Bolivia and reunites with his family once again.
