The Night Listener (2006)

To me, this movie is perfection.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The acting in this movie is really good.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Starring: Robin Williams as Gabriel No oneToni Collette as Donna D. LogandRory Culkin as Pete D. LogandSandra OH as Anna The Night Listener is a tightly made psychological suspense film. The film crept up in 2006. It is an eerie tale that wraps you in slowly, with its character development and involvement. Its themes linger long after the film is over.Gabriel No one (played by Robin Williams) is a late night radio talk show host. In the beginning of the film Gabriel narrates an unusual tale, telling of his latest encounter to his listeners. His narration continues throughout the production, detailing some situations as a means of providing character development. He describes his job, which is telling stories, often exaggerated but somewhat based in truth. In this instance he wants his audience to be aware that he will try his best not to fabricate or exaggerate this tale, although it may seem exaggerated and unbelievable, this is a true story. Gabriel No one is vulnerable due to his separation with is his partner Jess (played by Bobby Cannavale) of eight years. He is having a difficult time coping, and is unable to work with this and other distractions. After one of his work sessions, Gabriel's boss discusses an idea for a book that they could author. The basis is a manuscript written by a young fourteen year old boy. The boy's story is about his up-bringing, and of the abuse that he had suffered. Gabriel takes an interest in the boy who is named Peter Logand (played by Rory Culkin) and in his adopted mother Donna Logand (played by Toni Collette). After reading the details of the boy's encounters, and learning of his and his families troubling and disturbing behavior, Gabriel understood why the boy had been affected physically and psychologically.Gabriel's state of vulnerably made the relationship with Pete all the easier. He could empathize with the boy. He took time to communicate with him and took the time necessary to share quality time with him. As their relationship grows through private communication over the phone, Gabriel's only sense is visualizing the family in his mind. One day while Gabriel's power was out, Jess observed the phone call while fixing Gabriel's power, Jess told him that the boy and Donnas' voice were the very same. The result was Gabriel's examination of all that he had accepted as true. Gabriel gained more curiosity and interest and a strong desire to unlock the mystery of the family. There is a parallel between the characters of Gabriel and Donna, they both create stories and ideas that are intended to attract the interest of others. Gabriel used parts of his relationship to create stories for his show, while Donna takes the idea further.Robin Williams's portrayal of Gabriel No one resulted in a very convincing performance which is as memorable as his 2002 film One Hour Photo. He plays the character with such great venerability and emotion, that you believe he is Gabriel No one and share in his concerns as he experiences the complexities of his relationships. Having Pete in his life lessens his plight as it addresses the void, the emptiness in his life.Toni Collette (Donna) delivers the most chilling performance in the film in spite of being cast in a role that must have been difficult to portray, a character that has many different kinds of psychological disorders. When it is realized that this film is based on a true story it is even more chilling. A terrifying, unsettling mood envelopes you, as it is learned that some among us in reality have this factual disorder. Patrick Stettner directed this piece. The phone conversations through the first half of the film were brilliantly done, showing the perspective of Gabriel's initial understanding of Peter and Donna. This serves to intensify the mood as he is forced to alter his perceptions as his view of reality changes in the second half of the film.This film is very good; however, it may be too intense. Perhaps what is keeping it from being an excellent film is the humor or lack of it. Humor could have been used to ease the tension of the suspense at the same time intensifying it, by providing a contrast to the continual unbroken drama. All other aspects exceeded well beyond the typical suspense film especially the development of thought-provoking characters, action and settings which varied in atmosphere from the contrast of New York's brightly lit day to dark and cold wintery Wisconsin. The director of photography Lisa Rinzler created a scene in particular that was startling at the hospital, where Gabriel went into the parking garage and through the dank hallway with little to no light. Making the scene all the more creepy and unsettling, upon being discovered, showing his expression of fright, and displaying more darkness and dinginess with pipes dripping as Gabriel descends out of the bottom of a unkempt hospital. This is a truly memorable scene. I highly recommend viewing this film. It may be especially beneficial to those studying psychology. Thoughts of events and emotional experiences developed in this film will linger in your mind long after the film is over.Rating: 3 ½ out of 4

I thought this movie would be a watch-once-and-discard, straight to DVD type video that I would probably regret watching. I got it for 99 cents at the almost empty Blockbuster that's going out of business on the corner, from the discount bin. Instead I was pleasantly surprised by a pretty good movie. It's not great by any means but it actually did keep me guessing, which I like because most movies are way too predictable. Because it's not a big Hollywood movie you know anything is possible, and you think you have it figured out but aren't quite sure. The acting is very good by everyone and especially Robin Williams who plays it pretty cool in this role. He is a pretty good actor in more dramatic and emotional stuff when he wants to be. This movie's worth seeing.

I personally like Robin Williams, and will watch almost anything with him in it, that was obviously the case here, I didn't know what to expect. Basically late night radio host Gabriel No one (Williams) has his male lover needing space, so while he is gone he likes to talk to the young writer of a new manuscript, fourteen-year-old Pete D. Logand (Signs' Rory Culkin). Pete is very ill, and the only contact Gabriel has with him is through his blind adoptive mother Donna D. Logand (Toni Collette), but this relationship is very unsettling without Peter himself on the phone. Gabriel becomes suspicious of Donna, so he goes to find and confront Donna and Peter, and this is unsuccessful, we are wondering if Peter even really existed. Also starring Bobby Cannavale as Jess, Terminator 2's Joe Morton as Ashe, John Cullum as Pap No one and Bean's Sandra Oh as Anna. The story doesn't make all that much sense, and to be honest it isn't interesting enough for you to care about, even being based on real events. Adequate!

For what it is.. It's largely fair. The script gives us some thrilling moments for what turns out to be finally a movie with a painful human experience. Actually, the movie's goal wasn't making a Mystery/Thriller out of exceptional psychological disorder (the way movies like Psycho do), it was only some attractive frame to show its case. And what a case indeed, as we're all sort of living that disorder in one way or another. Maybe the movie didn't go deep into that meaning, but it might be part of its simplicity anyway. The plot shows 2 persons : one who pathetically begs love, and the other was close to it ; Gabriel No one (Robin Williams) has no one around him at the moment, so what a face for him Donna (Toni Collette) could be. The 2 worlds of them were very much the same where, especially at the first scenes, we see him "listening without seeing", "being in the dark while the world is in light", and "living alone", surely like the blind Donna was. It's a case of lonely world, where love is hard to find, and darkness is inevitable fate that we broke it by being truthful to admit the fact (kind of No one did with himself at the end), or by continuing the lie (like Toni Collette's character at the finale). Yet, meanings like "not to be blind to plead with love, or not to see it" wasn't well put, moreover the change in (Noone)'s character at the end wasn't truly perceptible, and I really felt how his character, compared to (Collette)'s one or not, lacks details. Though, I loved the smart touches to know that the tortured Pete and Donna are one. Anyhow, if you set to watch it as violent thriller then it is one hoax, done simply and shortly, and according to that taglines like "You never know who's listening" would be laughable. But as a "true story" movie with message about searching for love then it's sad case to devastating extent. The original title of my review was "The Genius Toni Collette", she was fabulous, at her scenes as a blind woman she exterminated important actor named (Robin Williams) ! I loved her here and I didn't believe myself, this is high sensitivity more than any Hollywood professionalism can do. So I didn't write this title since I'm afraid to write it upon every movie by her !, I think she was the top of it. At last, and as a movie concerning a radio announcer, it's not "I Wanna Be Loved By You, No Body Else But You" kind of situation in Clint Eastwood's (Play Misty for Me - 1971), no, it's more like " I Wanna Be Loved" only. And that was enough for me to be said in a movie, but I can't fight the feeling of how the whole thing wasn't totally enough to say it deeply.