Boulevard of Broken Dreams (film)

Plot

A successful Australian writer discovers he has cancer and returns home to Melbourne to be with his estranged wife and daughter.

Production

Producer-writer Frank Howson met Pino Amenta when discussing a possible mini series about Les Darcy. That was never made but they decided to collaborate on this film.

Howson later said, "It was the first film we'd done, and it was made with a lot of commercial requirements because we weren't in the position to just make a film and hope for the best. We set out to make a film that would do well here and internationally."

Among theses decisions were the ending. Originally, John Waters' character was to get on a plane to Los Angeles without anyone knowing that he returned home to die. In the final film, though, he was reunited with his wife and child.

Howson placed a great emphasis on music for the movie:

We recorded a great deal of those songs in LA with people like Richie Havens, Dan Hill and Marc Jordan. On most Australian productions, the soundtrack tends to be done last and usually at a stage when they have almost run out of money. It suffers as a result. To me, the soundtrack is one of the most important things for the emotional balance of a film.

Reception

John Waters earned an AFI Award for Best Actor and the film was popular enough for Boulevard Films to secure funding for a further five movies. Reviews were mostly poor.