huggibear It was quite different than the usual comedy flicks he is very well known for. I never disliked any of his movies that I'm aware of, but I truly enjoyed his type of humor (especially in Mrs. Doubtfire). It bothers me to know what people get so depressed about these days (is the world a depressing place?), even though I can't deny that I haven't been through bouts of it myself. One never knows the complexities of our humanity and why we struggle for desires being met. It was so sad to see Robin Williams depart this world, just like it was sad to hear about John Candy's death many years ago. We need these types of comedians here to keep us entertained. Why must they leave? I will sadly miss two of my three favorite comedians. The other is Steve Martin. Additionally, I also loved Rodney Dangerfield and Dan Akroyd comedy movies as well, but they were not my favorites.I digressed! Back to the movie. I thought it was intense in terms of what was going on. It has a very welcomed 'gay theme' to it. And to know this film was inspired by actual events, made it that much more interesting. I wonder if the film portrayed the events and gave the real story the due diligence it deserved. I may never know that answer, but it was a good movie. It's a solid 6 Star film for me!

brchthethird While I wasn't quite sure what to expect, THE NIGHT LISTENER turned out to be a dark and unnerving psychological thriller. Robin Williams plays Gabriel Noon(e), a radio talk show host who tells deeply personal (but often fictionalized) stories. After separating from his companion (Bobby Cannavale), he is given an advance copy of a 14-year-old boy's memoir by a publisher friend that recounts a childhood filled with sexual abuse. He also carries on a long telephone relationship with the boy. However, when the boy's existence starts to come into question, he starts an investigation that ends up creating more questions than answering them.What immediately struck me about this film was the disquieting mood created by the score and cinematography. Some of my favorite thrillers, regardless of narrative merits, have been able to hold my interest due to the atmospheres they create, and this is no exception. Robin Williams gives a wonderfully understated, yet nuanced, performance that ranks among his better, darker dramatic roles. Bobby Cannavale also does an excellent job, despite his limited screen time. However, the revelation was Toni Colette as Donna Logand, Pete's (Rory Culkin) foster mother. Her portrayal of a blind woman who may have some mental issues was effectively creepy and really got under my skin.Story-wise, I was almost gripped from start to finish. The first two-thirds were as good as any thriller I've seen recently, but the ending was a bit rushed in my opinion. The biggest theme tackled is about when the line between truth and fiction is blurred. This is first exemplified by the character of Gabriel Noon(e), who admittedly mines his own personal life for stories while leaving out all but the "shiny bits." This doesn't seem to bother him, except when he encounters it in another human being. It was an interesting topic for a movie, but I don't think that the film really delves into it the way it deserved. Overall, you end up with a decent psychological thriller that's well-acted but, at an anemic 80 minutes, could have been beefed up a little more.

Desertman84 The Night Listener is a psychological horror film based on was adapted from the novel of Armistead Maupin's bestselling novel of the same name that was inspired by actual events in the author's life. It stars Robin Williams together with Toni Collette,Rory Culkin,Bobby Cannavale and Sandra Oh. The screenplay was written by Maupin, Terry Anderson, and Patrick Stettner, also the film's director.Gabriel No one is a radio talk show host who has developed a loyal following for his deeply personal on-air monologues, many of which deal with his relationship with his companion Jess, who is HIV-positive and struggling with his health. When Jess' condition improves, he surprises Gabriel by announcing he needs his space and has decided to break up with him. Gabriel is shaken and feels creatively blocked until Ashe, a friend in the publishing business, gives him an advance copy of a memoir by Pete Logand, a 14-year-old boy living with AIDS. Pete's book is a harrowing memoir of a childhood fraught with abuse of all sorts meted out at the hands of his parents, and Gabriel is deeply moved by his story. One night, Gabriel gets a phone call from Pete, who claims to be a big fan of his radio show, but Donna, Pete's stern and protective stepmother, cuts off the call. While Gabriel admires Pete's book, he begins to question its veracity, and with the help of Anna tries to research the facts behind the story. As he uncovers more loose ends, Gabriel begins to suspect that Pete isn't the true author of the work, and that Donna has created his terrible past in the name of literary celebrity. The film might make for a good book, but it's too awkward and lacks the necessary action for a film. Added to that, Williams' rather sluggish approach doesn't help much. Eventually, we just aren't interested in tagging along with him. The plot dawdles along, intrigue gives way to risible melodrama, and it fails to get to grips with the issues especially when it focuses on the differences between perception and reality. The pacing and staging of the later scenes could use a little more electricity and momentum, and a little less restraint due to the over-leveraged plot imparts diminishing results as its predictable revelation arrives with an unsatisfying anticlimax. Yet, despite of it,the film keeps you watching and listening.

patrick powell The Night Listener is essentially quite straightforward: a study in obsession and loneliness. The two protagonists are almost mirror images of each other, one an ageing homosexual writer and the other an attention-seeking fantasist. It was billed, by some, as a thriller, and consequently criticised for not being very thrilling, not being very mysterious and, finally, not really having a story. Certainly, there is no resolution to 'the story' as such, but then whether of not the young boy existed is not relevant. What is relevant is that the storyteller, whose younger lover has left him, desperately wants there to be a boy, desperately wants to have a son. The other obsessive, a woman who apparently invents the boy to get attention, will do anything to keep the fiction going. The film plays trick a little viewer and I cannot make up my mind whether it does so fairly or not. So, for example, we are shown the fictional boy talking to the storyteller on the phone and then handing the receiver to the obsessive woman. So, it would seem, and do the film would have us believe, he really did exist. Yet he didn't: he really is just a vehicle for the obsessive to get the attention she craves. A final scene confirms it: at the end of the film she has moved to another town to start a new life, is no longer blind and the fictional boy in her life is no longer the victim of paedophile parents, but has lost a leg. Finally, of course, it doesn't matter whether or not the film plays fair. Its essence is to portray the private despair of an essentially decent man whom life is slowly but surely passing by. If you read other reviews, you will hear it claimed that The Night Listener is a cracking thriller or, alternatively, not worth a minute of the running time. Both views are wrong, but more to the point mistake, The Night Listener is a gentle film in which the storyteller finds some sort of peace, if only an acceptance that he is getting older and that life is not always as accommodating as we fondly wish. Furthermore, the film is beautifully shot in dark browns of different hues, in shadows, at night. Daylight and light generally play no part in the storyteller's world. Very little is distinct, and ironically the only real understanding and openness comes from two younger characters who are sceptical of the boys existence from the start. This is a slow-moving, in many ways uneventful film which succeeds because it doesn't pretend to be anything more than it is: an examination of obsession and loneliness. If you like a certain kind of film, you will like it. Williams is very good in portraying the storyteller's loneliness and Toni Collette also turns in a good performance. If you want a thriller, forget it. There is so much more to this film than that.