Robin Williams takes a ‘Boulevard’ to ride off into the sunset of a very treasured film career. Nolan Mack (Williams) lives an exceptional life. He is married to a woman (Kathy Baker) who loves him unconditionally, he was just approved for a promotion at the bank he works at, and he cherishes a longtime friendship with his best friend, Winston (Bob Odenkirk). However, inside of Mack is a truth he has been living with his whole life; he is gay. After truths begin to show again, Mack finds himself in an internal war with himself to accept his biggest fear, as well as open up to the people around him. If ‘Boulevard’ sounds like a familiar tale, it’s because we have heard this story a hundred times under better direction. Most recently, i reviewed an independent drama called ‘Christine at the Crossroads’, in which that film took a lot of risks with the consequences of holding such a secret in. That’s what ultimately plagues ‘Boulevard’ into unsubstantial territory; it just doesn’t have a fascinating enough story to tell. Williams gives us a very well layered performance, but he is working against a script that feels like it is out to avoid these truly dramatic scenes. A movie like this screams for some truly innovative ways at looking at the troubles that people face with their true identities. It all builds and builds into a finale that gives a minor payoff, but nothing of any real benefit to an audience hoping Williams in particular can leave this world with one more great film. The movie at times feels like Robin is a major Hollywood star acting among a New York stageshow that doesn’t equal up to par with his stardom. It’s a nice looking movie, complete with lots of beautiful nighttime shots of the San Fernando Valley. The movie sort of supplies the night with this feeling that anything is possible when the sun goes down. It’s all metaphorical to the different road that Nolan is traveling down in his own life, and that is one of the few things that the independent feature does honorably. During the day, Nolan is one person, while at night he is someone completely opposite. I wish that the gay relationship that he has with Leo (Roberto Aguire) meant a little something more to his coming out. If this story had a love between them that meant something more, then Nolan’s decision would feel even more difficult to the audience when they see this tug of war for his heart. This is an aspect of the film that greatly disappointed me, because we know where this is all ending, but we never get a scene that truly represents Nolan’s real happiness. Despite not enjoying the film very much, i was satisfied with Williams final performance before an untimely death, last year. Robin has always been one of those actors who can transform into various roles to reach out and pull any kind of emotion out of his audience, and his role in ‘Boulevard’ is no different. With some better direction, this could’ve been a posthumous Oscar nomination for one of the last great treasures of the last era. As it stands, the movie plays everything too safe, and because of that we never feel inspired by this interesting story.

4/10