THE NIGHT LISTENER
ICON FILM DISTRIBUTION
RELEASED 15 September 2006
Based on the 2000 book of the same name, ‘The Night Listener’ has a screenplay co-written by the author himself, Armistead Maupin. Famous for his ‘Tales of the City’ novels, the prominently gay novelist based his book on the case of Anthony Godby Johnson, the author of a 1993 book ‘Rock and a Hard Place: One Boy's Triumphant Story’, a supposed autobiography describing his survival of an abusive childhood with parents who beat him and let their friends rape him.
Robin Williams stars as Gabriel Noone, host of ‘Noone at Night,’ a late-night radio show on which he has become famous for sharing stories from his life - mostly true but sometimes ‘embellished’. After being handed a controversial manuscript by a publisher friend, he phones the precocious fourteen year-old author Pete Logand (Rory Culkin), a boy who seems to have had a nightmare childhood. Still reeling from a devastating breakup with his lover of ten years (Bobby Cannavale), Gabriel finds unexpected comfort in his long-distance conversations with Pete and begins to support him in the publishing of his memoirs. But as Gabriel draws closer to Pete and his adopted mother Donna (Toni Collette), becoming a kind of surrogate father, his ex-boyfriend plants seeds of doubt as to the veracity of the boy’s story, which leads Gabriel to pro-actively search for the truth whatever hidden dangers that may entail.
‘The Night Listener’ plays with it’s audience throughout the ninety minutes running time. Even certain characters are visualised on screen as Gabriel imagines them, which we aren’t aware of at the time. There are strong Hitchcockian echoes to the film, and it wouldn’t look out of place in the masters’ ouevre.
It’s one of those thrillers where you’re never quite sure what’s really happening - and I like movies to be unpredictable. There are constant themes of reality versus non-reality.
The film bounces back and forth the idea that we all share the yearning to use stories to find meaning and value in our lives. It all comes down to a need for love whether it be real or imagined, and sometimes imaginary love can be enough for people to get through life.
It’s so pleasing to see Robin Williams back in the kind of role that made critics sit up and take notice in ‘One Hour Photo’ and ‘Insomnia’. After the recent abomination that was ‘RV’, I feared he may have re-considered ‘proper’ acting and sold his soul to the Hollywood ‘comedy’ makers for ever. But ‘The Night Listener’ sees Williams develop his most complex and affectionate character yet. Even when he doubts himself, we want him to find what he’s looking for, or at least find some answers he’s so desperate for. The search for Pete Logand becomes all he has in his life. What family he has don’t really understand him, and his radio show is at a standstill.
To say Toni Collette is one of Hollywood’s most versatile actresses would be understating the fact. From the Australian hit ‘Muriel’s Wedding’ to blockbuster ‘The Sixth Sense’, brit comedy ‘About a Boy’ and tear-soaked Aussie drama ‘Japanese Story’, Collette can alter her body, accent, and presence like no other actress I can think of in mainstream cinema at the moment.
Rounding out the main trio of characters is Rory Culkin, the fragile teenage boy. Best-known for his role in ‘Signs’, he does a good job of coughing and being sad. There’s a strong supporting cast from Bobby Cannavale (The Station Agent) as Gabriel’s ex Jess, and Sandra Oh (Grey’s Anatomy), who plays Gabriel Noone’s bookkeeper and confidante, Anna.
Smart, affecting, and twisting like a sidewinder, ‘The Night Listener’ had me gripped throughout, with characters that are a welcome change from the usual thriller staple.
FOUR OUT OF FIVE