Boulevard (1994)

Director:

Penelope Buitenhuis

Writer:

Andrea Wilde (writer)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

On the boulevard survival is the rule

Plot:

A street prostitute takes in an abused young woman on the run from her misogynist boyfriend, leading to both facing off against the prostitute's dreaded pimp and a relentless police detective out to arrest all of them.

Plot Keywords:

Detective | Pimp | Adoption | Female Frontal Nudity | Homophobia

Cast

Rae Dawn Chong	...	Ola
Kari Wuhrer	...	Jennefer
Lou Diamond Phillips	...	Hassan
Lance Henriksen	...	McClaren
Joel Bissonnette	...	J-Rod
Judith Scott	...	Sheila
Amber Lea Weston	...	Debi
Greg Campbell	...	Coco
Keram Malicki-Sánchez	...	Sister
Katie Griffin	...	Lorraine (as Katie Griffen)
Marcia Bennett	...	Mrs. Braverly
Michael Eric Kramer	...	Doctor (as Michael Kramer)
Linlyn Lue	...	ICU Nurse
James Loxley	...	Dr. Edwards
Timm Zemanek	...	Ticket Clerk

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (cut) (1995) | Finland:K-18 (uncut) (2001) | USA:R | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Soundtrack:

WHAT U GOOD 4

Really very sad when you look past the dreggy style skin.

In their harsh world, the regulars on the Boulevard engage in a minute to minute struggle against each other. The story presents action and reaction, with no intellectual depth or analysis. The Boulevard boasts a selection of hookers, drag queens, junkies, pimps, cops, murderers and rapists, all mistrusting each other, all dangerously defensive. Despite this, the most violent and sexually explicit scenes are those of Jennifers flashbacks to her messy past, before she came to the Boulevard. Jennifer lands homeless after a series of traumatic events; she's just given birth, adopted her baby out, run away from her abusive partner, and given up all her money for a bus ticket to Toronto. A local working girl feels sorry for her so takes her in. Performance ranks as one of the better features of Boulevard. I've never seen Kari Wuhrer play a part so well. Lance Henriksen and Lou Diamond Phillips were damn memorable. Hahah. The quality of the film crashes when it comes to relationship development. Broad insults, verbal abuse, sex and physical violence sum up almost all character interaction. Even the budding 'love' between Jennifer and Ola seemed more like a convenient, mutually-rewarding 'arrangement'. The ugly ending only expemplified Boulevard as one of the cheaply effective 90's-classic tragedy genre. But still, quite good.