Based on a TV show from the ’80s that I never once watched, Denzel Washington plays Robert McCall, a quiet employee at a Home Depot-type store. Robert likes to go drink tea at a local diner and read his book, and it appears that there is very little to him. When a young prostitute (Chloe Grace Moretz) gets into trouble with Russian mobsters, Robert springs into action, and major details of his past are slowly revealed. Washington is pretty damn great in the role, playing a sweet, gentle man who can tear your face off in an instant without blinking an eye. The film is directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day), and while Fuqua resorts to a lot of visual clichés (slow motion, rain) he totally owns those clichés. Marton Csokas is good and scary as Teddy, the film’s main bad guy. His confrontations with Robert are quite memorable. The movie doesn’t offer much when it comes to new things, but it does provide solid entertainment through and through. I’m hoping Washington gets a franchise out of this one, because I’d like to see more about the story of Robert McCall.
The Equalizer
