Boulevard: O Amor no Retrovisor

Greetings again from the darkness. The tragic death of Robin Williams last year left a void in the world of comedy, and his absence is also felt on the big screen where his dramatic skills were often under-appreciated. His final non-comedic role comes courtesy of a film that is probably not worthy of his talents, but leaves us with a reminder of what a skilled actor he was.

The premise feels at once a bit dated and also timely. Williams plays Nolan, a 60 year old man who works at his comfortable bank job (of 26 years), goes home each day to his comfortable suburban home, to a comfortable marriage to his wife (Kathy Baker) with whom he no longer shares a bed or much of anything else. He also periodically stops off to put a straw in the ginger ale for his near comatose father with whom he has never had much of a relationship. His entire life is a façade of comfort and life lived well enough.

"Are you happy?" That seemingly odd and innocent question from his boss sets Nolan off on a path of awakening. It turns out that since he was 12 years old, Nolan has suppressed his true identity as a gay man. A spontaneous u-turn on the titular Boulevard sends Nolan on a collision path with Leo (Roberto Aguire), a young male prostitute with whom he quickly bonds … through only talking and self-identification.

It's this awakening that brings a level of modern-timeliness as Nolan's story is not so different from that of Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner who has dominated the recent media with the late-in-life shift in persona. They are sixty-plus year old men who have evidently each lived a lie for much of their lives. It's difficult for many of us to relate to, but clearly it's a real thing, and director Dito Montiel and writer Douglas Soesbe capitalize.

The best and most uncomfortable scenes occur with Ms. Baker and Mr. Williams avoiding the issue through years of practice, and also the scenes with Mr. Williams and Bob Odenkirk who plays his long-time friend and confidant. These are three strong actors who work well with each other.

There is really nothing wrong with the film … it's slow pace designed to match that of Nolan's life … but the Nolan and Leo segment just never clicked, leaving me struggling with a third of the story. It's about a man who is totally not comfortable in his own skin, and lives a somber and unfulfilled life right up until the point where he takes a leap. It's not that he takes a leap, but rather the specific leap he takes that just didn't click for me. Still, it's a performance from Williams that is worth watching – in fact, must be watched if you are a Robin Williams fan.

I liked this final Robin Williams film mostly because it shows how great an actor he really was. Williams stars as Nolan, a very nice, kind, sweet, unassuming 60 year old gentleman, who happens to be gay, but has kept himself in the closet for 50 years. His performance exudes happy frustration with his very being, making you wonder what really goes on behind the closed doors in his mind and home. How many stories in real life, Williams own included, have shown you seemingly happy people on the outside who, on the inside, can't take life anymore.

Nolan has reached this point by doing what was expected of him. He has worked in the same bank for 25 years. He lives with his wife Joy (Kathy Baker) whom he loves, but they don't do much other than have dinner and brief words. There is no intimacy, it seems they have never shared the same bed - no children. Obviously his wife must have known the truth. It makes me wonder why this issue never came to a flashpoint earlier.

This boring, risk-free life takes a change when Williams decides to chat up a male prostitute Leo (Roberto Aguirre) when he drives home past this known prostitute bridge. Why he chose this kid, it's never clear. Maybe he was thinking he could help this kid, who apparently used drugs, so maybe not a good choice, to lead a nice, happy, openly gay life. It's never clear.

The story goes on, a bit slowly, and Williams has to start building a web of lies to cover his contact with Leo. The consequences you might imagine are inevitable, but the ending offers you hope that, at least for Leo and Joy, perhaps things are working out for the best.

This is not a masterpiece, nor a must-see, but since we know it is William's last performance, you should see this performance that will remind you how great an actor we have lost. Now go out and rent Good Will Hunting or Good Morning Vietnam or Dead Poet's Society!!! Enjoy.

The fact that it is / was the last film of Williams add something to the viewing itself. I am not completely familiar with his death, so I can not really say how - maybe - this movie fits into his last months of life...But I can see that some stories can unfold something deeply hidden in someone and make an explosion.

This is a good drama. Williams is very believable in his role. It does feel genuine and somehow fits him good.

Someone wrote that the film is predictable.Well, for me, at least, I did not see that kind of an ending. I am not sure if I expected a happy ending with the boy, but... I am happy that my predictions ( whatever they were) did not come true.

Somehow, the slow pace of the movie and kinda darker colors / cinematography reminded me of the 60's and 70's and that added something moody, melancholic to the movie which I liked.

Seven from me.

Boulevard is not a particularly great movie, and suffers from its utter generic-ness and lack of ambition. The absolute best thing I can say about the film, however, is it contains one of Robin Williams's last acting performances, and in spite of such an average picture, he manages to turn in a fine, very restrained, dramatic performance. The kind we had come to expect from Williams.

The set-up of the story is simple. A bank clerk, named Nolan (played by Robin Williams, lives a pretty standard life. He and his wife (played by Kathy Baker) have set-up their marriage as a way to distract themselves from the outside world. All of this changes one night while driving. Nolan encounters a troubled young man, named Leo (played by Roberto Aguire), and his entire life changes, as he comes to embrace who he really is, and even his own sexuality.

Boulevard is a pretty atypical film. It's well directed by Dito Montiel (who also made Guide To Recognizing Your Saints) and the script is okay, even having some genuine laughs in it. The performances all around, not just Williams, are fine, including Kathy Baker as his wife, Roberto Acquire as the troubled youth he befriends and Bob Odenkirk in a small role as one of his accomplices and friend named Winston. It's really Robin Williams who shines through though. This may not be one of his absolute best performances, but for being one of his final roles, it isn't a bad role either. Williams isn't being manically over the top (overly dramatic) in this film. He's showing the level of restraint that he's usually showed in some of his best roles like Good Will Hunting and Dead Poets Society. For example, when he confronts his wife after missing dinner, instead of screaming and hollering, he tries to calm her down, and is very resourceful as playing it cool.

Boulevard is a rather short film with less than 90 minutes. The director clearly has skill in making a competent picture, but aside from Williams's performance, I wasn't drawn into much of the story. For being one of Robin Williams's last performances, it does make me sad, but either way, it was a good role for him to go out on.

BOULEVARD will always remain a remarkable film despite the fat that it did so poorly in the theaters. Written by Douglas Soesbe and directed with immense subtlety by Dito Montiel, this film is a fitting tribute to one of America's greatest comedians, the star Robert Williams who offers a performance that echoes the lives of many men who elect to lead their lives as gay men in the closet for whatever reason. Williams was 63 years old when he died of apparent suicide following a long struggle with depression and this, his last film, is dedicated to this memory.

Nolan Mack (Robin Williams in a performance so understated that it makes us forget during the film that he was one of the funniest crazies in the comedian arena) is 60, quietly married to an independent Joy Mack (Kathy Baker), quietly working in the same desk in the same back for years, tending his dying father, up for promotion as a bank manager, who turns down a wrong boulevard one evening – a street for hustlers and prostitutes and almost inadvertently picks up a young hustler Leo (Roberto Acquire) and begins a 'relationship' with him, supporting him financially and with attempts to find work for him, but never having a physically consummated act – just being in the hustler's presence is enough. We discover that Nolan is gay and has known since he was twelve but elected to never acted out on it. He has a close friend Winston (an Excellent Bob Odenkirk) with whom he communicates but never admits to anyone except his barely conscious father that he is gay. How he deals with his new discovery of the life for which he has yearned is the manner in which the film plays out – his confession to Joy, the rejection by Leo who has his own interpersonal relationship issues and flaws (a very impressive bit of writing that shows the insecurities of a hustler's mindset), and the trauma that finally exposes his real identity makes for a deeply moving though very quiet story.

The film, in retrospect, seems an homage to the other side of the comedy mask Robin Williams wore. In many ways it is his Ave Atque Vale. Sensitive, subtle, deep, and heart- wrenchingly real, it is a fine yet sad way to say goodbye to Robin Williams.