Boulevard 2014

Kyle Smith, New York Post: A frustrating ending to a stellar career, a cramped and melancholy film about a cramped and melancholy man. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: As Robin Williams' final film, it tolls a wonderful bell for the legacy of a distinguished career. Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: [Boulevard] is well written, acted and directed, and yet somehow never manages to surprise. That approach has its advantages, however. Read more

Mike D'Angelo, AV Club: Boulevard is a movie that feels at least a decade past its sell-by date, if not two. Read more

Kerry Lengel, Arizona Republic: This is certainly a believable story, but it's one we've seen before, and neither screenwriter Douglas Soesbe nor director Dito Montiel has found a way to elevate it into something that challenges or inspires. Read more

Peter Keough, Boston Globe: In Dito Montiel's treacly, programmatic film, Williams succumbs to a recurring neediness, earnestness, and sentimentality. Read more

Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly: Williams summons a low-simmering sadness in a bittersweet turn that makes you rue all the roles we'll never get to see him play. Read more

John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: Tender but unsentimental. Read more

Sheri Linden, Los Angeles Times: Williams delivers a performance of mannered, sometimes heart-wrenching restraint. But something closer to cautiousness tamps down the film. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: All in all, it's just a sad story, sadly told. And here's the saddest thing of all - it's one of the last stories Robin Williams will ever give us. Read more

Andrew Lapin, NPR: All the film's problems are secondary to Williams himself. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: The movie is mapped out too easily, but Williams carries the movie. He brings a palpably forlorn desperation, and a clear desire for inner peace. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: It isn't especially well directed or incisively written, and its ending is frustratingly vague. The main attraction is Mr. Williams's relentlessly dour performance. Read more

Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelphia Inquirer: Williams does a terrific job portraying Nolan's ambivalence, the mix of fear, guilt, and excitement that grips him and the gradual change he undergoes in the ensuing weeks. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: There is never a moment in "Boulevard" when you can't feel Williams trying to push through the labored script to the bitter truth of Nolan's agony. Read more

John Hartl, Seattle Times: Unfortunately, the movie plods; you can always see where it's going or trying to go. It also feels incomplete. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Nolan is inconceivable as someone anybody would want to be married to, and it's impossible to believe he could maintain a friendship. In scene after scene, his co-stars put out energy and Williams absorbs it, reflects on it and gives back sadness. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: While it's all too clear that Nolan is unhappy - he also has an ailing dad to care for - the thoughts inside his head remain stubbornly opaque. Read more

James Rocchi, TheWrap: "Boulevard" consistently evokes the road not traveled, but doesn't particularly stand out alongside other dramas that have explored the same terrain. Read more

Liz Braun, Toronto Sun: Boulevard itself moves toward an obvious conclusion with no surprises along the way; it runs out of steam after about an hour. Read more

Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice: I spent the movie aching for its star, not its characters. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: Boulevard is a sad, hesitant little movie about a sad, hesitant little man. That may be a far cry from the Robin Williams roles we knew and loved, but it's not a bad one on which to go out. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: If the movie is cheesy at times, it more often presents an understanding of life's contradictions and compromises. Read more