The Night Listener (film)

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The Night Listener
Promotional poster for The Night Listener
Directed by	Patrick Stettner
Written by	Armistead Maupin Terry Anderson Patrick Stettner
Starring	Robin Williams Toni Collette Bobby Cannavale Sandra Oh Rory Culkin
Music by	Peter Nashel
Cinematography	Lisa Rinzler
Editing by	Andy Keir
Distributed by	Miramax Films
Release date(s)	August 4, 2006
Running time	81 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$3,000,000
IMDb profile

The Night Listener is a psychological thriller starring Robin Williams, Toni Collette, Sandra Oh, and Rory Culkin. The screenplay was written by Armistead Maupin, Terry Anderson, and Patrick Stettner, and the film was directed by Stettner. Differing substantially from the novel of the same name by Maupin, the film adds numerous thriller elements not found in its source.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The plot centers on Gabriel Noone (Robin Williams), a popular gay radio show host who is dealing with the separation from his long-term partner Jesse (Bobby Cannavale). Noone, who finds it increasingly hard to get inspiration for his radio show, is given a book to read and review. The book is written by a young teenager named Peter Logand (Rory Culkin), who claims to be a victim of incest, pedophilia and rape. He is also diagnosed with AIDS.

Gabriel begins a telephone relationship with the boy and the boy's mother Donna (Toni Collette). Gabriel and Peter become increasingly close and form a father/son relationship much to the dismay of Gabriel’s ex-boyfriend Jesse.

Gabriel’s relationship with Pete continues to grow until Jesse hears a telephone conversation and comments on how the mother and the child both sound similar. Gabriel’s friend Anna (Sandra Oh) only adds fuel to the fire by talking about her research into people who fabricate stories for attention or love. Also, no one has ever met the boy and disputes about his existence cause a great disruption to Gabriel’s life, who decides to travel to the boy's hometown in Wisconsin.

After trying to track the boy down to the address that was on letters sent from Pete, Gabriel finds that the address was a PO Box. After further attempts Gabriel finds himself eating in the same diner as the woman he has spoken to on the phone, Donna. He simply recognizes her by her voice. Pete never mentioned that Donna is blind and uses a Seeing Eye dog.

Gabriel follows the woman home and she senses that he has followed her. She later reveals the man at the PO Box store informed her of his arrival. Donna invites Gabriel into her home and talks openly about Peter who is currently in hospital due to his AIDS. Gabriel can find no hospitals nearby that have any record of a Peter Logand ever having been a patient.

Gabriel’s paranoia about the boy's existence grows, and he breaks into Donna’s home using a brick to smash a window. A police officer subsequently finds Gabriel and arrests him for breaking and entering. Gabriel is released from police custody after he informs the police of the story of Pete. Once released, Donna is waiting for Gabriel, he confronts her about Peter and she claims the boy has died, that is why he hasn’t been able to see him.

Distressed that Gabriel doesn’t believe her, Donna collapses in the middle of a road, in the path of an oncoming truck. Her attempt to commit suicide confirms everything Gabriel had suspected, that Donna is fabricating the whole story.

Gabriel returns to the city and attempts to move on from Donna, who is now nowhere to be found. Gabriel uses the story as inspiration for a new radio story, something that he had been unable to compose for a long time.

The film ends with Donna applying for a new home, claiming that she needs the home for both herself and her sick child, who had just had his leg amputated. She has drastically changed her appearance and is notably no longer using her Seeing Eye dog and had always had her vision.

The MPAA gave The Night Listener an R rating for language and some disquieting sexual content.