As in
François Truffaut's award-winning first picture,
400 Blows, Jean-Pierre Leaud once again takes up the role of a besieged and troubled teen in Boulevard. But that ends the points of similarity between the dramas, since this is a routine and uneven film, not up to director Julien Duviver's usual standard. This time around, the young hero is a sixteen-year-old by the name of Georges whose problems do not stem as much from himself as from the people around him. After running away from home, he has rather shattering encounters with an oversize striptease diva and two aggressive gay men, as well as an on-going antagonism with a boxer who is as pleasant as a wounded bull. These run-ins with life on the streets inevitably have their effect on Georges, no longer as naive as when he first left home. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide