A comprehensive investigation of the impact of nonzero boresight pointing error on the performance of modulating retro-reflector (MRR) free space optical (FSO) communication systems is the goal of this work. In particular, the end-to-end signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) statistical characteristics including probability density function (PDF), cumulative distribution function (CDF), moments as well as moment generating function (MGF) are formulated. Capitalizing on these results, the system average BER and outage probability are derived. Moreover, the asymptotic performances of the system ergodic capacity at low and high SNR values are deduced as well. The obtained expressions are verified via Monte-Carlo simulation.