Danny De La Paz and Richrd Yniguez star as the brothers Avila, young men on two different paths in Boulevard Nights (1979). Written by Desmond Nakano and directed by Michael Pressman, Boulevard Nights gets lumped into the rash of controversial “gang” movies that came out that year which include The Warriors, The Wanderers, Over the Edge, and Walk Proud. How does it compare to those films? Hop in your low rider and follow me as we cruise through the Chicano classic that is Boulevard Nights.
Buy Boulevard Nights Blu-rayRaymond Avila (Yniguez) has gotten away from the gangs, has a steady job doing custom car upholstery, and is making plans for the future with his main squeeze, Shady (Marta Du Bois). Raymond’s younger brother Chuco has dropped out of high school and runs with the local street gang staying up all night doing various drugs and is generally up to no good. Both brothers enjoy cruising Whittier Blvd. on the weekends but for different reasons. Raymond loves the lowrider car culture and showing off how high his car can bounce in the “hop” contests. Chuco likes to run the “boule” with his boys looking for girls and hunting trouble.
Raymond does his best to put Chuco on the straight and narrow by helping him get a job and encouraging him to stay away from his thug crew. Chuco fails to keep away from his late-night antics and his job suffers because of it. Things get really bad after Chuco’s fired from his job and gets into a brawl on the boulevard where a rival gang member is killed. Now the rivals blame Chuco and begin pestering Raymond as well. All that beefing builds to a tragic shooting at Raymond’s wedding reception, causing the Avila brothers to take up arms and settle the score.
Boulevard Nights is a timeless story of brothers on divergent paths. Richard Yniguez gives a great performance as Raymond, the brother who likes his job and has a bright future with a wife and good friends. Danny De La Paz is solid as Chuco, the younger brother trying to make his way but remains lost as he stands in the shadow of his older brother. De La Paz nails Chuco’s struggles to articulate how he feels as he navigates between his blood family and the one that gives him a sense of validation. This is best seen when Chuco finally heads home to his family after he’s been hiding out, trying to keep trouble from their doorstep. Chuco begins to reveal his inner battle to Raymond just before rival gang bangers sneak up on him and start shooting up the house.
Boulevard Nights’ controversy stems from its portrayal of gang life/violence/stereotypes and the fact that movie theaters were concerned that riots would erupt at showings. Of course, there were some fights as rival gang members chose to view the film on the same night. The violence overall is tame compared to action movies like Rambo or Beverly Hills Cop. The Warriors is action packed and plays like a comic book in its vision of a semi-futuristic world where a gang has to fight its way back home after a night spent in enemy territory. The Wanderers, though not as cartoony or violent as The Warriors, does show some scenes of life at home for its young characters but its focus still remains the rock ‘n roll antics of kids on the street corner playing silly games.
Boulevard Nights is closer to Over the Edge than it is to those “W” movies as its theme is centered around family/friends and they present a more realistic look into the home lives of many youths of the 1970s. Both have endings that are a bit over the top and detract slightly from the rest of the film. Though Boulevard‘s ending isn’t as kooky as that in Over the Edge. Boulevard Nights also manages to avoid the melodrama and controversial “brown face” that Walk Proud possesses (Robby Benson’s “Adios Yesterday” still haunts me). With that in mind, kudos belong to Carmen Zapata, James Victor, and the handful of other standout actors whose efforts keep Boulevard’s characters less cliche and more akin to real people. The Latin-tinged soundtrack by Lalo Schifrin with the theme sung by George Benson highlights the moods well though it is very ’70s sounding at times and reminds me of the Roller Disco episode of CHiPs.
Aside from its shoot ‘em up ending, Boulevard Nights remains a standard for its authentic portrayal of how life could be for many Latino youths around the East Los Angeles area in the 1970 and 1980s. It helped set the stage for movies like Stand and Deliver, La Bamba, and the outstanding My Family/Mi Familia (1995) that tell more positive stories and present authentic scenes of life among the nation’s Mexican American communities.
