moonspinner55 Review of Boulevard

Boulevard (2014)

Dramatic bow from Robin Williams is interesting if minor character study in a low key

[6/10 · 14 October 2015]

Robin Williams' final dramatic performance before his untimely death is an odd choice for the actor. Repressed 60-year-old gay man, married but living with his wife as if she were his sister, finds himself at a crossroads in his life when he finally decides to act upon his suppressed desire to have an intimate male friend. Williams picks up a young man who cruises the city streets, yet he is so closeted that he's afraid to touch him; turns out the boy is just as troubled and unhappy, and owes money to a drug-dealer. Tasteful, austere character study sort of bubbles under the surface until a last-act confrontation between Williams and wife Kathy Baker, which is extremely well-done. The characters are held at a distance from us, and the whole movie is set in a very low key, so the finale isn't as moving as it might have been. Still, the quiet but unsettling tone of the piece sticks with one, and the film has more resonance after you've thought it over rather than while watching it. **1/2 from ****