Dave Hackman

The Night Listener

Robin Williams plays Gabriel Noone a radio show personality and author. Times are tough for Gabriel lately with his personal life in turmoil, as his boyfriend has just told him he wants some space and has moved out. Gabriel reads stories for listeners late at night on his radio show and is finding it tough to come up with anything lately.

A good friend of his introduces him to a story that will help divert his mind. Gabriel reads the rough draft of this book and its story depicts a young boy sexually assaulted by his father and others while his mother videotaped the acts for future sales.

Gabriel begins a phone relationship with the boy in this story and as this gives him something to focus his attention on it also becomes an item of discussion on whether this boy is all he is made up to be.

I liked the movie because it had a transparent story that allowed you to focus less on the mystery and more on the characters similarities.

This is not a flawless hit by any means as it has less intrigue and suspense then others in its class and its character study is only mediocre. It’s a short film running only 82 minutes.

B-

Martino

Re: The Night Listener

Sounds like a pass for me - homosexual man reads story about sexually abused boy that is videotaped for profit....and then contacts him....none of these facts are coming across in the marketing of the movie- which states it is a "Hitchcock like thriller..." which does not bode well from your description of "it has less intrigue and suspense then others in its class "...Hitchcock without suspense....

Michael Reuben

Re: The Night Listener

I don't know about Hitchcock, but the film works as a mystery because it's constantly showing you something and then undercutting it. The film is about the believability of the stories we tell and are told, and it's gained a certain timeliness in light of the James Frey/Million Little Pieces saga.

The tight running time works in the film's favor. The best scenes are the ones between Williams' Gabriel and Toni Collette as the adopted mother of the young author (or maybe not).

Armistead Maupin wrote the screenplay from his novel, and anyone familiar with Maupin's fondness for trick names will look at Gabriel's very closely.

M.

"Most people never have to face the fact that, at the right time and the right place, they're capable of anything." -- Chinatown

"What kind of movies would there be if everyone in them had to do what we thought they should do?" -- Roger Ebert

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