Jessica Mehaylo
Professor Allison
HST 383
5 February 2015
Assignment #1
Antoine Fuqua’s 2014 action thriller The Equalizer was filmed and based in the
major Massachusetts city, Boston. Although Fuqua’s The Equalizer uses Boston as it’s
setting, Boston is not relevant to the plot.
Fuqua is the director of The Equalizer, which is produced by and starring Denzel
Washington. While Washington plays the main character in the 2014 The Equalizer, British
actor, Edward Woodward, originally played this role in 1985. Woodward was the original
star of the American crime drama television series from 1985 to 1989. Similarly to
Washington, Woodward plays Robert McCall who is a retired espionage agent for the
United States government. However, while Washington’s character attempts to presume a
regular life following his government work, Woodward attempts to compensate for his past
by offering, free of charge, for his services as a protector or investigator. Woodward does
this by posting a newspaper ad, with his phone number, offering to help those in need of
his expertise. As well, Woodward’s version takes place in New York City, while
Washington’s takes place in Boston. Although Fuqua’s, The Equalizer, does not exhibit the
city of Boston as central to the plot or story, the movie encompasses aspects of Boston’s
heritage and the city itself.
This production takes place in Boston Massachusetts in the present day. Washington
plays the character of Robert McCall who works at a hardware store, called Home Mart.
Home Mart is located in Summerville, Massachusetts. Although McCall’s character is
assumed to be normal and passive, in reality he is a retired black ops government operator.
Along with working at Home Mart, McCall enjoys the company of his friend Teri. Teri,
played by Chloe Grace Moretz, is a teenager whose real name is Alina. Although Teri was
not born in Boston, she was raised in Boston since the age of five after leaving Russia.
McCall and Teri occasionally meet at a diner and engage in small talk about books and
Teri’s singing career. Unfortunately, Teri has been a victim of sex trafficking and
prostitution since she left Russia. Following being severely beaten by her pimp, Slavi, Teri
is hospitalized for her injuries, where McCall covertly visits to find out what happened.
Here, McCall promises himself that he will save Teri from this lifestyle, despite never
wanting to return to his old line of work. Therefore, McCall makes a visit to the restaurant,
owned by the Russian mob, where Slavi’s office is, to give him nearly ten thousand dollars
in exchange for Teri’s freedom. However, when Slavi refuses, McCall takes out him and four
of his armed men, leaving little trace of his visit. Following the news of the loss of five of his
men, Vladimir Pushkin the head of the mob in Russia, sends his enforcer, Teddy, to find and
kill the perpetrator. Teddy, like Teri, is originally from Russia. While Teddy searches for his
culprit, McCall realizes that his meeting with Teddy is inevitable. Therefore, McCall takes
on the role of his previous character to not only save Teri’s life, but now his own.
Throughout Boston pubs and Irish bars add to the culture and history of Boston, as
well, they exhibit the evident Irish heritage. Although the Irish do not play a huge role in
this movie, Fuqua incorporates it to add another aspect of Boston to the production.
Fuqua’s incorporates the Irish mob into his film when Teddy is searching for clues on who
potentially took out Pushkin’s men. Teddy visits the Irish mod leader, John, with a corrupt
cop, to question him about the whereabouts of his men and him on the night of the
incidence. The legacy of Irish ancestors is addressed in the this scene while discussing the
incident. John discusses how the Irish were present in Boston long before the Russians.
Although it is not essential to the movie, no other city exhibits the historical content that
was incorporated to make this movie realistic. As well, Fuqua manages to include other
aspects in an attempt make this piece particularly Boston.
Throughout the film, scenic shots of the Boston area are incorporated to remind the
viewer of the setting. Some particularly important scenic shots used in the film are the
transition shots of the city skyline, the Prudential Tower and the Zakim Bridge. While the
shots of Boston’s skyline portray the beauty of the city, the shots of the Prudential Tower
and Zakim Bridge show two important Boston landmarks. The Prudential Tower, also
known as the Prudential building or the Pru, is the tallest building in Boston and holds the
highest observation deck in New England, known as the Skywalk Observatory. However,
despite Fuqua’s use of iconic Boston landmarks and stereotypical assumptions about its
heritage, Boston itself is not central to the theme.
While Boston’s scenic beauty is frequently addressed and particular Boston aspects
are included throughout the production, the city of Boston is not essential to the theme.
This conclusion can be drawn by the lack of connections made to Boston itself. Although
McCall lives in East Boston and the film displays shots of the Tobin Bridge, this could have
been done in any other city. In no way were the shots containing the Tobin Bridge essential
to the plot itself. Similarly, although Fuqua’s shows McCall using the T, Boston’s public
transportation, this does not make Boston particularly important to the film. Fuqua
includes many unspoken elements that a Bostonian could relate too, however, a non-
resident of the Boston area would not interpret such clues as relevant to the city. For
example, McCall wears new balance sneakers and reads the Herald. A resident of Boston
would acknowledge of commonness of the New Balance sneakers amongst Boston
residents. As well, Fuqua portrays the timing of the Boston Herald, another aspect to
Boston life in which a resident would understand. However, non-residents could not
identify such clues. Therefore, the conclusion can be drawn that in the midst of producing
the film, such hints of Boston life were included to incorporate the setting to the plot.
As well as The Equalizer, many other productions were filmed in Boston. For
example, Ted was based in and produced in Boston. However, unlike Fuqua’s film, Ted
better incorporates Boston into the story. For example, the characters in Ted all express a
Boston ancient and the scenery that is filmed, like the Red Sox Park, is actually
incorporated into the plot of the movie. Thus, making is hard to film the movie in another
location without changing the plot.
Fuqua’s The Equalizer is an American thriller and drama that is filmed in the city of
Boston. The film exhibits Boston scenery, stereotypical assumptions and quirky aspects of
Boston life. However, despite this, the production has no real connection to the city itself
and could have been filmed in another place. Although iconic landmarks were shown, the
scenes were not filmed there. Stereotypical assumptions about the Irish, police and mobs
were incorporated, but were not essential. As well, aspects of Boston life, like the new
balance sneakers and the herald, were included but were not significant. Therefore, one can
conclude that although The Equalizer was filmed in Boston, the real Bostonian aspects of
the movie were added into the film to attempt to make it realistic and were not essential to
the original plot.