Boulevard

By: Amos Lassen

Although I have already reviewed this film, I decided to have another look mainly because we were not sure this film would ever be released to the general public. I have since heard that a release date is set and we can all form our own opinions about it. Looking at the film we can understand why distributors seemed to keep away from it. Williams plays Nolan, a quiet and melancholic character in a movie that has an air of sadness.

Nolan is a middle-aged, married man living a dull, life with little joy and little to keep him going into his fast encroaching later life. Then he meets Leo (Roberto Aguire), a young hustler working on the streets. While Nolan doesn't want sex, something about Leo something inside him and he starts to seek out Leo's company and attempts to help him.

Naturally this causes huge conflict in Nolan, as while he increasingly can't deny that he is gay, he does love his wife. While he hopes that a bit of support, advice and cash can help lead Leo to a new life but he soon discovers that things may be more complicated than that.

The story is not new-we have seen it on movie screens before- an older closeted gay man finding himself attracted to a hustler ? both romantically and because he sees in the younger man a reflection of the life they gave up by marrying a woman.

What makes the movie interesting is that it takes well-worn ideas and plot points and concentrates on doing them well. It also expands on areas that have been somewhat ignored in other movies. We see that Nolan's wife, for example, is irrelevant compared to the man's journey. We see that Nolan's wife (Kathy Baker) shows that living with a gay man in hiding has affected her, and that if he remains true to who he really is, what is to happen to her?

Director Dito Montiel creates an air of sadness that is felt throughout the film. Leo is never sure of the Nolan's intentions and he questions why Nolan wants to help him. Even though so much of this is familiar, it does not lessen its overall impact.