The Night Listener (2006)

Director:

Patrick Stettner

Writers (WGA):

Armistead Maupin (screenplay) &
Terry Anderson (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

4 August 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Listen for the truth.

Plot:

In the midst of his crumbling relationship, a radio show host begins speaking to his biggest fan, a young boy, via the telephone. But when questions about the boy's identity come up, the host's life is thrown into chaos.

Plot Keywords:

Wisconsin | Radio | Airplane | New York | Blind Woman

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Robin Williams	...	Gabriel Noone
Toni Collette	...	Donna D. Logand
Joe Morton	...	Ashe
Bobby Cannavale	...	Jess
Rory Culkin	...	Pete D. Logand
Sandra Oh	...	Anna
Rodrigo Lopresti	...	Young Man at Party
John Cullum	...	Pap Noone
Lisa Emery	...	Darlie Noone
Guenia Lemos	...	Female Neighbor
Marcia Haufrecht	...	Pant Suited Woman (as Marcia Halfrecht)
Nick Gregory	...	Flight Attendant
Ed Jewett	...	Mail Clerk
Becky Ann Baker	...	Waitress
Billy Vann	...	Taxi Driver

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some disquieting sexual content.

Runtime:

USA:81 min (DVD version) | USA:91 min (Sundance Film Festival) | USA:82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #42175) | Ireland:16 | UK:15 | Singapore:M18 | Finland:K-15 | Portugal:M/16 | New Zealand:M | Netherlands:12 | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Montgomery, New York, USA

Company:

Hart-Sharp Entertainment

Trivia:

At 5 minutes and 58 seconds into the film, Armistead Maupin's real-life husband, Christopher Turner, appears playing Jess's (Bobby Cannavale) friend that Gabriel (Robin Williams) refers to facetiously as "Lucifer" (Jess corrects him and says, "Lucien. He's just a friend").

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The zip code for the Montgomery, Wisconsin address starts with a '2', but all Wisconsin zip codes start with 5.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Gabriel Noone: [Black screen. Sounds of squeaking chair as someone sits down, microphone squealing, paper rustling, and a thump] Ready?
[Sound of one breath blown into microphone]
Gabriel Noone: [Unknown woman mumbles]
Gabriel Noone: Yeah, let's try it like that.
[Paper rustling]
Gabriel Noone: [Unknown woman mumbles again]

Movie Connections:

References "Star Trek" (1966)

Soundtrack:

Greasy Xmas

Give it a shot.

This Night Listener is better than people are generally saying. It has weaknesses, and it seems to be having a genre identity crisis, no doubt, but I think its creepy atmosphere and intriguing performances make up for this. The whole thing feels like one of those fireside "this happened to a friend of a friend of mine" ghost stories. One big complaint about the movie is the pacing: but the slow and sometimes awkward pacing is deliberate. Everything that unfolds in this movie is kept well within the realm of possibility, and real life just sort of plods along—no? So there are no flashy endings or earth-shattering revelations, no "showdown" scenes. Thank Heaven. You have to get into the zone when watching this movie, forget your reservations and your expectations of what makes a (conventionally)good movie. Williams isn't terrific, but he easily meets the needs of the story, plus his character is supposed to be somewhat generic ("No One") as he is the Everyman, the avatar by which we ourselves enter the story. Toni Collette's performance should be nominated for an Oscar (even if she maybe shouldn't win it). Give it a shot. For quality and content alone, The Night Listener is surely in the top twenty percent of movies coming out these days.