If you’re familiar the 1980s television show called The Equalizer, starring Edward Woodward
as the cultured British Robert McCall, you might be disappointed with director
Anton Fuqua’s version. The only elements similar are the title, the main
character’s name and the bare-bones premise. For the most part, “The Equalizer”
is a character study about a man haunted by his past, seeking redemption. We
never learn the specifics about what led Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) to
resign from the CIA but we know it led to his faking his own death and deciding
to live an anonymous life as an employee at a Home Depot-like business. The
villains represent a different level of threat as McCall works his way up the
chain of power of a Russian mob cell operating on America’s East Coast. The
first is a pimp Slavi (David Meunier), a frothing-at-the-mouth psychopath. The
second is Teddy (Marton Csokas), a cold-blooded fixer whose job is to clean up
messes. The big boss, Vladimir Pushkin (Vladimir Kulich), stays in the shadows,
pulling the strings of his minions. Most of the movie is about McCall’s
confrontations with Teddy, but the resolution to Pushkin’s involvement is
revolved too easily and quickly.
McCall is pulled out of his quiet life when Teri (Chloe
Grace Moretz), an underage prostitute he gradually gets to know because they
hang out at the same coffee shop, is brutally beaten by Slavi for hitting an
abusive client. When McCall’s offer of $9800 to buy Teri’s freedom is rejected,
the ex CIA agent takes decisive measures to give Teri back her life. However,
it turns out that Slavi isn’t just a pimp and drug dealer. Because he’s a key
cog in Pushkin’s multi-million dollar operation, Pushkin dispatches Teddy to
Boston where, with the help of corrupt cops, he hunts McCall while, in turn,
McCall hunts him. Washington shows that he can bring a thoughtful moodiness to
a hard-edged character. And he clearly understands that while McCall is a hero,
he operates in a gray zone. Although the end is rushed, “The Equalizer” is
likely to please anyone willing to accept a new interpretation of the basic
storyline. And, who knows, there’s a possible sequel in the offing. 10/6/14
