Title: Salvation Boulevard
Director: George Ratliff
Starring: Greg Kinnear, Pierce Brosnan, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris, Yul Vazquez, Marisa Tomei, Jim Gaffigan, Isabelle Fuhrman, Ciaran Hinds, Howard Hesseman
Its title awash in suburban metaphorical significance, Salvation Boulevard sounds like one of those dramas where some already stressed-out parents suffer and cope with the unexpected loss of a child, or maybe reconcile after decades of emotional drift and infidelity. After an hour with plenty of chilly exchanges, someone flips their lid in the kitchen and starts yelling, maybe smashing a glass or turning over a dining set for effect. Well, histrionics do indeed eventually take center stage here, but Salvation Boulevard‘s putative area of focus is instead a labyrinthine criminal cover-up and business scheme, by way of a fairly toothless, religious-tinged satire.
The film opens with Dan Day (Pierce Brosnan), the pastor of a Southwestern Evangelical super-church, debating noted atheist author Paul Blaylock (Ed Harris), and then repairing to his office for a wind-down cocktail. In the wake of an accident, Dan attempts to saddle certain misdeeds on new-ish congregant Carl Vanderveer (Greg Kinnear), a sheepish, golly-gee reformed Deadhead who’s given up his wild ways and settled down with Gwen (Jennifer Connelly) and her teenage daughter, Angie (Isabelle Fuhrman). The rest of the film finds Carl — with the help of Honey Foster (Marisa Tomei), a somewhat dopey campus security guard who still follows the Grateful Dead — trying to stay a step ahead of Dan’s doughy henchman Jerry (Jim Gaffigan), and convince various parties of his innocence.
Salvation Boulevard premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, where its reception was notably (and understandably) mixed. An adaptation of Wag the Dog author Larry Beinhart’s book of the same name, the movie lacks both a clear narrative focus and tone. The former would be less of a problem if everyone was on the same page, but several actors seem to play the material with different degrees of sincerity, and Connelly eventually hijacks the proceedings with the same sort of desperate, attention-seeking gaudiness typically found in the one-person stage showcase of an actor on the downside of 40 years of age. The latter, meanwhile, would be less of an issue if there was a stronger pull to the story — some mystery compelling an audience’s interest. Unfortunately, the emergence of a slimy real estate developer (Yul Vazquez) with his own special plan on how to capitalize on events completely lacks both believability and interest.
The film’s dramatic instincts are mushy and not fully formed, and there’s none of the comparative bite of a more fully formed religious satire like Saved!, which seems like a missed opportunity, given the wide difference between Dan’s public and private faces. Excepting the ever-charming Tomei and a few supporting players (Ciaran Hinds, Howard Hesseman) who escape unscathed, the performances come across as either wan and unfocused (Brosnan, Fuhrman) or amped (Connelly). Kinnear, meanwhile, oscillates between the two poles. Lacking the sort of consistent laughs that would allow it to connect as a dark comedy, and not having any real dramatic pull either, there isn’t much of a convincing reason for Salvation Boulevard‘s existence, let alone anyone’s need to tend to it.
Technical: B
Acting: C
Story: C-
Overall: C-
Written by: Brent Simon
