Boulevard

In his last leading role before his shocking suicide, Robin Williams stars as Nolan, a 60-year-old banker whose mild exterior and long, childless marriage to Joy (Kathy Baker) mask a simmering resentment over an unfulfilled existence. After approving a home loan for a gay couple, Nolan impulsively drives through the town's red-light district and begins an affair with callow young hustler Leo (Roberto Aguire) that can only lead (perhaps intentionally) to an unraveling of Nolan's personal and professional life. Viewers familiar with Williams might consider Dito Montiel's Boulevard to be an interesting career bookend to the thematically similar 1986 Saul Bellow adaptation Seize the Day, in which Williams played a midlife-crisis casualty and proved his gift for non-comedic characterizations. But for most this will be just a glum, low-key footnote. A strong optional purchase. (C. Cassady)