‘The Equalizer 3’

Violent and bloody, The Equalizer 3 continues to see ex-DIA special ops Robert McCall right wrongs, following the money trail of one of his Boston taxi passengers being defrauded of his life savings.

A vineyard in Sicily is littered with dead bodies, millions of Euros and vast quantities of Fenethylline, McCall (Denzel Washington) leaving his calling card from the off. But shot in the process, he escapes to the Italian mainland where he’s helped, no questions asked, by local doctor Enzo Arisio (Remo Girone) in the coastal village of Altamonte. Slowly recuperating, McCall puts an anonymous call into CIA agent Emma Collins (Dakota Fanning), tipping her off about Sicily. But the idyll of the Amalfi coast is soon tested as the Naples-based Vincent Quaranta (Andrea Scarduzio), head of the local Camorra, looks to commercial development along the coast, forcing locals out of town. But McCall is not the man to sit idly by as gangs of henchmen terrorise the town.

Moral justice is dished out by the bucketload as McCall looks to support the town he’s been made to feel so welcome. As with previous storylines, it’s bloody and it’s violent – but, the final film in the trilogy, it’s also full of style, energy and, in the relationships within the town, a warm humanity.

Rating: 68%

Director: Antoine Fuqua (The Equalizer, Emancipation)

Writer: Richard Wenk (The Equalizer, The Mechanic)

Main cast: Denzel Washington (The Equalizer, Fences), Dakota Fanning (Ocean’s Eight, American Pastoral), Gaia Scodellaro (State of Consciousness, Promises)

The Equalizer

The Equalizer 2

‘The Gentlemen'(Season 1)

Thematically adapted from his film of the same name, Guy Ritchie extends the narrative over an eight episode miniseries as old-school aristocracy with their vast, expensive-to-run secluded estates look to financial opportunities offered by the criminal underworld.

On the death of his father, second son Edward ‘Eddie’ Horniman (Theo James) unexpectedly inherits his father’s title and sizeable estate. Older brother Freddy (Daniel Ings) is something of a walking disaster, abusing his privilege (and assumed inheritance) in drink, drugs, gambling – and debt. But if the reading of the will is a surprise, it’s nothing compared to Eddie’s discovery there’s an agreement with underworld legend Bobby Glass (Ray Winstone). An enormous marijuana producing state-of-the-art laboratory is to be found deep beneath the stables. And there’s 11 other estates with similar arrangements and a sizeable annual fee payable to each of the families. But with Glass currently incarcerated it’s daughter Susie (Kaya Scodelario) running the multi-million pound business.

Mom (Joely Richardson) and Freddy are only too aware of the arrangement. But Eddie wants out. In looking to extract the family, over the eight episodes Horniman finds himself drawn further and further into proceedings. Protecting the family name finds necessary collaboration with the Glass empire against the Colombian cartel, American billionaire Stanley Johnston (Giancarlo Esposito) and born-again, self-proclaimed pastor Gospel John (Pearce Quigley) and his thugs. With his military training, Horniman discovers he’s a natural. And with lots of double-crossings, deals, counter deals as well as the inconsistent older brother, Eddie needs to be at the top of his game.

The extended format of a miniseries suits Ritchie. There’s plenty of snap to the dialogue and action is thick and fast with occasional extreme violence – namely Ritchie’s trademarks. But time is spent on character development: Eddie in particular goes on a very personal journey from an officer in a UN peacekeeping unit to a heart of darkness.

Rating: 77%

‘The Equalizer 2’

As a sequel, this Denzel Washington/Antoine Fuqua/Richard Wenk collaboration may not reach the heights of the first Robert McCall-thriller, but it remains an enormously entertaining badass revenge tale.

A new Boston home, a new job as a taxi driver, Robert McCall (Washington) continues to live quietly observing life around him. But with information fed to him by former CIA boss Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo), he still rights a few wrongs. But when she is killed in a Paris hotel, grieving over the loss of his friend, McCall looks to revenge her murder.

The storytelling may be more confident than the first but it unspools somewhat predictably (including the mentoring of young aimless neighbour, Ashton Sanders) but the final thirty minutes in an evacuated stormlashed Massachussets coastal town is an engrossing choregraphy of violence, movement and unexpected visual quietude.

Rating: 62%

Director: Antoine Fuqua (The Equalizer, The Magnificent Seven)

Writer: Richard Wenk (The Equalizer, The Magnificent Seven) – based on the TV series

Main cast: Denzel Washington (The Equalizer, The Magnificent Seven), Pedro Pascal (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, TV’s The Last Of Us), Ashton Sanders (Moonlight, I Wanna Dance With Somebody)

’Boiling Point’ (Season 1)

Personal and professional melodramas continue as the series picks up from the earlier film starring Stephen Graham as the acclaimed chef. Only, picking up the narrative a few months on, Graham is no longer working and his Assistant Head Chef, Carly, has opened a new restaurant – Point North.

Tensions in the kitchen continue as characters clash and tensions rise with Carly (Vinette Robinson) struggling to manage strong personalities as well as the financial pressures of the new venture and expectations of investors. But it’s a hard call – especially with little support from mom (Cathy Tyson) who places her own demands on her only daughter.

With its oppresive proximity, the kitchen is a hotbed of toxicity with Assistant Head Chef, Freeman (Ray Panthaki) throwing in the towel in the first episode. Mistakes were made but Carly absented herself on opening night as yet another (false alarm) panic call from mom saw Carly dash home. Freeman’s replacement Nick (Steven Ogg) is a great professional find but his behaviour towards Camille (Izuka Hoyle) is causing problems. Out front, flamboyant maitre d’, Dean (Gary Lamont) seamlessly holds the fort but occasionally the tensions in the kitchen blow up out of all proportions. And with its viewing window, events are not always privately conducted.

Season two will undoubtedly follow (t’s yet to be confirmed) with the likelihood of more of the same regarding the kitchen but, as with season one, will touch upon the personal lives of staff. As well as Carly’s home arrangements with mom, season one followed a deeply personal narrative with pastry chef Emily (Hannah Waters) and her support of young, self-harming colleague Liam (Stephen McMillan).

The younger, funkier front-of-house staff are less in focus in Boiling Point (future seasons?) and Stephen Graham is still there on the margins of the narrative. Like it’s American equivalent, The Bear, it’s raw and confronting.

Rating: 73%

‘Faraway Downs’

A sweeping narrative of Outback Australia pre-World War II as a British aristocrat arrives at the remote cattle station of her husband determined to force him to sell it. Only he is murdered prior to her arrival.

A six part miniseries, Faraway Downs sees Lady Sarah Astley (Nicole Kidman) journey from England to the Faraway Downs cattle station in remote Northern Territories. Tired of her husband’s absence and the financial folly, its sale is her objective. Only her husband is murdered and the aristocrat finds herself pressured to sell at considerably below market value to ruthless cattle baron, King Carney (Bryan Brown).

Lady Sarah reluctantly joins forces with the rough and ready Drover (Hugh Jackman) to protect her interests – with romance the inevitable outcome. Formerly married to an indigenous woman, Drover is an outsider himself – society tongues are soon wagging in Darwin as the couple cohabit and informally adopt the indigenous bi-racial Nullah (Brandon Walters).

Caught up in the draconian Stolen Generations racial policy, the onset of World War II with a potential Japanese invasion along with underhand (read illegal) Carney tactics to force the sale results in a sweep of melodrama. Stunningly beautiful with glorious sunsets and aerial landscape-porn, Baz Luhrmann’s Faraway Downs is a visual feast. But it all becomes somewhat tiresome – Hollywood-style bombast and superficiality without the necessary rawer social commentary of Nullah’s desperate position of avoiding the authorities.

And, of course, Faraway Downs is simply the feature film Australia broken into five parts. A lttle editorial tweaking here and there altering the film’s focus and with one of the different endings filmed at the time replacing the cinematic release, it’s the outcome of Luhrmann’s COVID lockdown and time on hand.

Rating: 54%

’The Equalizer’

Bold, violent, big-budget action crime thriller as former special service commando reacts to the treatment of a young sex worker by ultra-violent Russian mobsters.

Having faked his own death, Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) lives quietly in a Boston apartment working at a DIY retail warehouse. An insomniac, he regularly spends the early hours of the morning at a local diner, reading and talking to the young Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz) in-between jobs. When she is hospitalised McCall finds his old sense of justice refuses to allow him to walk away. Seeking some form of revenge, he finds himself up against the east coast Russian mob – with the sadistic and vindictive Teddy (Marton Csokas) bought in to silence the warehouseman as that revenge escalates.

It’s a gruesome choreography of a thriller directed by Antoine Fuqua as corrupt police and violent mobsters underestimate McCall. Calm, collected, our man quietly deals with everything that’s thrown at him. As a film it may not be saying much, but as an atmospheric suspense of an entertainment, with so much shot at night or in the early hours of the morning, The Equalizer has few equals.

Rating: 70%

Director: Antoine Fuqua (Emancipation, Southpaw)

Writer: Richard Wenk (The Mechanic, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back) – based on the 1980s TV series

Main cast: Denzel Washington (Fences, Training Day), Marton Csokas (Chevalier, Loving), Chloë Grace Moretz (The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Hugo)

‘Downton Abbey: a New Era’

The soap opera that is Downton Abbey continues as we move towards the 1930s with the Crawleys forced to come to terms with the modern world.

All the favourites return as an ailing Dowager Countess of Grantham (Maggie Smith) unexpectedly inherits a luxurious villa in the south of France. Transpires it’s from an old flame, a man who is prepared to displace his wife and son from the premises. Off go son Robert (Hugh Bonneville), Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) and other members of the family to check it all out. It’s perfect timing as Downton Abbey is about to become a film set for the shooting of the silent film, The Gambler. The Earl of Grantham is only too delighted to be out of the way. But as Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery), left in charge, points out: they need the money for a new roof.

As with previous episodes (television or film), upstairs and downstairs stories unfold with equal measure. The excitement below stairs is palpable as the film crew and stars arrive with Lady Mary unexpectedly becoming more involved in the film.

It’s all very staid and polite. A genteel continuum of the Downton Abbey saga that undoubtedly pleases fans but one that is unlikely to win new ones.

Rating: 53%

‘Angels in America’

Whilst an overblown miniseries adaptation of Tony Kushner’s visceral two-part stage play, Angels in America, directed by Mike Nichols, remains an angry, powerful commentary on the political, religious and personal responses to the HIV/AIDS crisis in 1980s US.

Disparate stories connected, some fictional, some factional. Infamous New York lawyer Roy Cohn (Al Pacino) refuses to acknowledge he has AIDS (it’s liver cancer, motherf*cker as Cohn threatens to discredit his doctor of more than 20 years). Republican Mormon lawyer Joe Pitt (Patrick Wilson) simply refuses to acknowledge he is gay – something his wife Harper (Mary-Louise Parker), trapped in a sexless marriage, is only too aware. Her escape is copious amounts of valium. And then there’s Prior (Justin Kirk) who’s just told his lover of four years, Louis (Ben Shenkman), that he’s HIV+. Ben panics and abandons Prior, leaving him to deal with the ravages of the disease and the slow emotional and physical breakdown.

Such narratives are interwoven into fantastical visions as Prior’s nurse (Emma Thompson) invites him as an angel to be a prophet in death: Harper simply ‘travels’ in her mind’s eye whilst Joe’s deeply religious mother (Meryl Streep) arrives to sort out her son – who is having a clandestine relationship with Louis.

Angels in America is no easy watch – a confronting melodrama of life and, more prevalent, death. Wholly committed performances from an extraordinary depth of a cast add to the impact. As a live experience stage play (Royal National Theatre, London production in the ’90s), Angels in America personally blew me away. The medium of television dilutes the impact of some of the more fantastical scenes involving the Angel of Death, but this miniseries remains a riveting six hours.

Winner of 11 Emmys in 2004.

Rating: 73%

‘Reacher’

It may be pure hokum but Reacher is, unexpectedly, sheer unadulterated enjoyment with a deadpan, on-the-spectrum Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) a 6’4″ beefcake.

Arriving on foot in the small town of Margrave, Georgia, Reacher is arrested for murder. A highly decorated former special military police investigator, Major Jack Reacher, a self-confessed hobo, finds himself in the middle of small town politics and far-reaching corruption. With the initially reluctant support of head detective, Oscar Finlay (Malcolm Goodwin), and policewoman Roscoe Conklin (Willa Fitzgerald), Reacher is drawn into the violence of a Venezualan cartel as the bodies mount in a town essentially owned by Kliner Industries.

Whilst the narrative is far from original, the quick-witted repartee and vocal sparring between the lead characters in particular is a joy as the enigmatic loner delves and investigates first one, then two, three murders – and more as they keep turning up (although Reacher is responsible for a few of them himself). Reacher can be violent at times and there’s a lot of surnames to hold on to as those victims pile up. But, with the local Roscoe and Harvard educated Bostonian, Finlay, creating plenty of frisson both for and, later, with Reacher, this first season eight episoder is an intelligent adaptation of novelist Lee Child’s Killing Floor. There’s unquestionably more to come.

Rating: 78%

‘The Unforgivable’

A powerful central performance by Sandra Bullock provides a core to an involving but somewhat predictable and far-fetched unfolding narrative.

After 20 years in prison for the murder of the local sheriff, Bullock returns to Seattle in search of her much younger sister. Adopted out, shown in a separate narrative in the film, Kate (Aisling Franciosi – The Nightingale, Jimmy’s Hall) has little recall of early childhood. In her search, Ruth returns to the isolated, former family farmhouse – now renovated and owned by professional couple Viola Davis and Vincent D’Onofrio.

Director Nora Fingscheidt’s film is at its best when following Ruth’s struggles as a cop-killing ex-con fitting (or not) into her new reality. Less convincing is the quest to be reunited with Kate. And that stellar cast (which also includes Jon Bernthal) is essentially reduced to bit parts and wasted.

Rating: 54%

Director: Nora Fingscheidt (System Crasher, Ohne diese Welt)

Writer: Peter Craig (The Town, Top Gun: Maverick), Hillary Seitz (Eagle Eye, Insomnia), Courtenay Miles (TV’s Mindhunter) – based on television series Unforgiven by Sally Wainwright

Main cast: Sandra Bullock (Gravity, The Blind Side), Aisling Franciosi (The Nightingale, Jimmy’s Hall), Viola Davis (Fences, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom)