Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Boulevard Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 28, 2015

Boulevard engenders an eerily pervasive melancholy, not only because of the deeply seeded pain that runs through its dramatic arc but also the real-life death of its star that hangs over the movie. While Boulevard is a stalwart Drama about a man slowly morphing into who he is rather than who the world wants him to be, the film will always be remembered as the final performance of leading man Robin Williams, the beloved entertainer whose suicide shocked not only the entertainment industry, but the world. The final performance sees Williams not as the cheery comedian that made him a beloved movie star but rather a downtrodden banker leading a veiled life defined by lies and deep seeded unhappiness. One cannot help but to feel that there's an underlying parallel with Williams' battle with depression, which, by all reports, was the primary driver in his untimely death.

Living in the shadows.

Nolan Mack (Williams) is, by all outward appearances, a happy man, a good man, a pillar of the community. He's a long-standing employee at a local credit union and may even be up for promotion to branch manager. He's married to Joy (Kathy Baker) and, while they share separate beds, they seem happy enough together. But there's something amiss in Nolan's life. One night, while aimlessly cruising the city's dark streets, he nearly runs over a young man named Leo (Roberto Aguire), a directionless male prostitute. Nolan pays him not for sex but rather companionship, and Leo quickly becomes Nolan's escape from the phoniness of his real life. But that escape begins to seep into his real life. Leo becomes the center of Nolan's life and the relationship may ultimately force him to confront who he is and the people to whom he has been lying for his entire life.

Robin Williams makes Boulevard. While the film's core drama is strong enough to carry it, Williams tackles it with an air of believability by way of his uncanny ability to convey the character's deeply rooted pain that lingers below the surface, gnawing at him every hour of every day, fighting a steep uphill battle with a public persona that's become so much a part of his life that he's all but fooled himself into believing that he's the man everyone knowns and admires -- a good friend, a solid companion, in line for a promotion, a real pillar of his community -- rather than the person he knows himself to be. The film is much less about the character's sexuality and more about his burgeoning escape and the lingering wounds and the façade that stymie his happiness. Williams is absolutely brilliant in the part, allowing that pain to creep only so close to the surface to where he and the audience -- and only then because the audience is privy to the truth -- can see it and feel it while it remains closed off to the rest of the world, a world too preoccupied with everything but the essence of a man to take notice that something's wrong. In that way, there's a constant sense of discomfort to the connection between Nolan and the audience as both are pulled in two very different directions and as the strain builds on both sides, as the façade crumbles and each begins to blend into the other. Gradually, Nolan becomes a victim of both worlds, where the exterior cannot accept the changes in his life but at the same time Leo struggles to understand the foundations of his relationship with Nolan, seeing only money and the nonexistent sex rather than the open and wounded heart that's crying out to him for help.

Writer Douglas Soesbe and Director Dito Montiel help Williams by creating a complete, detailed world for him to play against that figuratively wraps itself around him and suffocates his inner being while gently massaging his façade. The script creates a beautifully convincing bubble in which Nolan lives. His quarter-century of service at the bank instantly makes the character reliable and likable but also somewhat stagnant, someone who doesn't upset the cart but rather, at least outwardly as the case may be, goes with the flow, keeps his head down, and doesn't make any waves. The marriage is depicted more as a companionship rather than a truly loving bond, obviously the first hint that something may not be as it seems, but because it's behind closed doors and because his wife -- ironically named "Joy" -- seems content as well, the audience can accept it for what it is rather than as a figurative alarm bell. Behind the camera, Montiel does little more than craft an elegantly simple frame in which his star can work. The picture thrives, technically, on its subtleties and nuance by leaving it to the actors to find and portray the essence of their characters and only placing them just so in that bubble that, on the inside, is bright and cheery but on the outside often takes place under cover of darkness, lit warmly by city glow that contrasts with the "real world" that, for Nolan, isn't real at all.

Boulevard Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Boulevard features a richly defined and effortlessly colorful 1080p transfer. The digital source photography leaves the movie looking a tad flat and glossy but the sheen is soon lost to the positive details and colors. Facial features are strikingly complex, presenting broad details and nuanced textures alike with remarkable clarity. Environments are nicely defined, too, whether a warm and inviting dining room, a dimly lit restaurant interior, shady motel rooms, or the nicely appointed bank interior that contrasts with the somewhat rougher world that exists outside of it. Image sharpness is consistent with no soft or blurry edges to be seen. Colors are impressive with a nice blend of sun-drenched greens and bright business signs seen during the day with warmer accents both inside and out evident elsewhere at night. Black levels are impressively deep and healthy. Flesh tones, too, are neutral and satisfying. Very mild banding is visible in a couple of shots but the image is otherwise pristine.

Boulevard Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Boulevard features a relatively simple yet effective and technically proficient Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Dialogue is the primary element throughout. The spoken word enjoys effortless clarity and strong center placement. Music is nicely spaced and suitably clear, even through the primary refrain that's both a bit bubbly and mildly piercing. Light ambient effects support various environments -- city streets, a bank office, a restaurant -- and adequately define the areas in question and help draw the listener into them.

Boulevard Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Boulevard contains no supplemental content.

Boulevard Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Boulevard may superficially be about Nolan Mack's closeted homosexuality, but the movie feels somehow bigger than that, using it as a vessel to tell a greater story about life and the struggle to be oneself, no matter what it is one may be hiding. Life is too hard to make it artificially harder, the movie seems to say, by living it as a lie. The film is beautiful in its simple technical craftsmanship but it's in Robin Williams' performance where it shines. His last is one of his best, a layered, nuanced, and deeply pained effort that defines the character's duality with expert precision. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of Boulevard is unfortunately absent any kind of supplemental content, but video is top-notch and audio isn't far behind. Recommended.