Review: The Night Listener

Patrick Stettner’s The Night Listener is a deceivingly and maddeningly simple movie. The plot involves radio-show host Gabrielle Noone’s (Robin Williams) interest in one of his biggest fans, an abused and critically-ill boy who has written about the ways in which tragedy has struck his life. Gabrielle bonds with the boy, named Pete, over the telephone, but he begins to question Pete’s existence when he realizes a series of shocking coinsidences involving Pete’s social-worker and guardian, Donna (Toni Collette). From the get-go, the premise had me hooked in; I was ready for The Night Listener to take on a Hitchcock-esque frame and offer a suspenseful, twisty experience at the movies. Unfortunately, the film proved to do the opposite of such; the narrative is just about as straightforward as they come. I suppose screenwriters Stettner, Armistead Maupin, and Tery Anderson were admirable in their intentions to allow the story to acurately live up to its claim that it is “Based on True Events,” but the material becomes uninteresting as a result. The film’s script spells out everything that’s going to happen in the third-act beforehand and every bit of such foreshadowing rings true. The set-up could’ve lended to a thrillingly rewarding final-product, but instead The Night Listener ends up being a frustratingly basic motion-picture.

Perhaps the reason I saw such promise in the material was the film’s dramatic flare in areas outside of its central-plotline. Had the cast-members’ performances and Stettner’s direction been as blasé as the goings on of the story, then I probably wouldn’t have recognized the screenplay’s inability to seize upon the potential of its premise. In the lead-role, Williams offers a subdued, fascinating portrayal of the miffed Gabrielle. Collette is equally as captivating as the mysterious Donna, a character who would’ve been bettered by a more narratively-developed personality. Stettner’s knack for tapping into the two great performers’ work gives The Night Listener an eerie, shadowy tone that glazes over the audience; it’s truly a shame that the picture wasn’t better supported by twistier storywork. As it is, I’m even tempted to recommend it because of its abundance of inspired elements, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t come out of it disappointed in the path taken by the narrative. This is an okay movie that could’ve rather easily been a lot better one.