gavondo May contain spoilers.Boulevard was one of the last movies Robin Williams starred in before his passing, in the year of the film's release. I began watching Boulevard with this somewhat somber thought in mind. And somber I remained. A homosexual man lives a lie for 60 years, never truly happy. If that's not somber than I don't know what is. Calling this film somber is not to say I didn't enjoy the film- I did, but it didn't pack quite as much of a punch as I had expected.Williams, playing banker Nolan, is quiet and reserved. As he fights what he has tried to make himself believe for five decades, he is pained and conflicted. These are deep emotions, ones that I wanted to feel, but Boulevard just didn't quite get me there. There is certainly emotion- Roberto Aguire, as the Leo, the young prostitute with whom Nolan becomes enamored, quite effectively portrays the confusion he feels, caught between simply an encounter with client and the deeper feeling he holds for Nolan. However, Aguire and Williams don't have great chemistry together. Or perhaps the problem is that we simply don't see enough of them together. Nolan, speaking to his wife (Kathy Baker), refers to Leo as "just someone I talk to." Unfortunately, we don't see them talking- just awkwardly staring at each other, as Nolan asks Leo to keep his pants on. He can't decide if Leo is a love interest or an adopted son.The film's tag line is "It's never too late to make a U-turn." In communicating this idea the film is successful. Boulevard ends on a positive, hopeful note, if not one slightly anticlimactic.

nyc man Although there is some authenticity to this film, there are some things I question; e.g. did the hustler really have a pimp who beat him up?But, I wonder if Robin Williams was gay, and this film appealed to him and his gay desires, so he took a stab at romance. I wonder, too, if Robin's suicide may have been related to his desire not to come out of the closet.There have been rumors of Robin being gay, and his funny denials: 'Williams added, "I'm a big fan of the puss. Always addicted to puss. Came from one".' which was in the pink news in 2006.There are people who claim they slept with Robin, the above article continued: 'He told GQ magazine he has never considered gay encounters, "There are many websites that'll go, 'Oh, he's gay, I know he's gay.' Even our chef, who's gay, was at a gay ski lodge, and some guy came up to him and said, 'Robin Williams is gay.' He goes, 'No, he isn't.' 'Oh, I know he is… I know people who've been with him.' They should tell me, because I don't remember."'The moments of sexual immaturity reminds me of some videos about the legal prostitution in Nevada, where a woman talks about newbies who show up and want to take them from that life (which the women don't want, since they claim to make $200k a year). But Robin in this movie acts the same in wanting to take the young hustler out of "that life". Although, Robin's sexual jealousy at another john sleeping with his hustler seems beyond naive for a 60-year old who works at a bank, and knows that the kid can't afford a place on the few hundred that Robin gives him.I would like to hear other opinions. Especially since now that Robin Williams is dead, we will not be libeling him.In case you're scared of defaming the dead, a source notes : "The dead have no cause of action for defamation under the common law, and neither do their survivors, unless the words independently reflect upon and defame the survivors. " Judge Robert Sack, the author of one of the two leading treatises on libel, from the rights of writers ]

Michael O'Keefe Dito Montiel directs the first of the last four movies Robin Williams made before his untimely death. Nolan Mack(Williams)became too comfortable with his mundane, sexless life. Surely his wife Joy(Kathy Baker)must have had a clue he may be gay; they slept in separate rooms. Not that he loved money, Nolan worked at the same bank branch for over two decades. He seemed tight with his money until one night driving aimlessly on the boulevard he meets up with a troubled young male prostitute named Leo(Roberto Aguire). He keeps wanting to see the young man and will pay him for his time, without sex being involved. Mr. Mack's life will become altered with a chain of life changing events taking place. Depressing and yet, heartfelt.Williams is excellent. Also in the cast: Bob Odenkirk, Curtis Gordon, Elenore Hendricks and Gary Gardner.

moonspinner55 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 ****