Director
Patrick Stettner
Cast
Robin Williams Gabriel Noone
Toni Collette Donna D. Logand
Sandra Oh Anna
Rory Culkin Pete D. Logand
Bobby Cannavale Jess
DVD Release Date: January 9, 2007
Rating: R
Running Time: 81 Minutes
The Movie
Gabriel Noone (Robin Williams) seemed to have everything going for him. He had a fantastic, loving relationship with a special someone, and a job as a radio storyteller that he legitimately liked. He told twisting tales of love and childhood and stories that people could listen to and relax while letting go – taking a trip from their minds.
But all that was about to change for Gabriel, as his partner Jess (Bobby Cannavale) was in the middle of a growing phase. He and Gabriel had been together for many years, but Jess now wanted to see what else was out there and live life. As to be expected with anyone after their love has left, Gabriel didn’t have the desire to doing anything; this included telling tales to make others feel good. Gabriel’s life was falling apart. That is, until he read a book of sorrow and despair, about a young boy of fourteen who was able to withstand it all and still thrive in life.
Pete (Rory Culkin) had been molested and abused by his parents. Stricken with horrible mental memories and the AIDS virus, Pete was adopted by his social worker Donna (Toni Collette) who wanted to see if she could give him a better life. No matter if it would be for a few months, or, Heaven willing, years. Gabriel found Pete’s courage and insight along with Donna’s great heart to be so incredibly inspiring that he started a phone relationship with that took place every single day. Living a good number of states away, it was their best means of communication.
Gabriel’s eyes started to brighten again and he began to feel good about himself until a startling observation: no one had ever actually met Pete before. The publicist, who was going to release the book, simply took the great work and wanted to get it released for a sick child before he died. Gabriel’s friends started to question Pete’s reality as well the more he became attached to the boy. And if you hear something long enough, you begin to believe it, as did Gabriel. An unannounced visit to Pete and Donna’s town in Wisconsin didn’t give any more information on the child or his health, but only uncovered more confusion as to whether he ever existed at all.
I couldn’t help but think of The Mothman Prophecies during the entire length of this film, I just couldn’t. The similarities are there the entire way through with just subtle differences. There’s the phenomenon that may or may not really exist. Someone becomes totally obsessed with finding out the truth and will stop at nothing to find out what it is. Said person even travels to the origin of the so-called myth to research and find out what really is going on. I loved Mothman, and as similar as The Night Listener is to it, I loved it too.
The biggest problem with the film is that it is so short. The first half of the movie jumps around from scene to scene that even though you can follow along; you begin to feel as if you’ve missed something somehow. Then after you’ve already figured out any plot holes on your own, the whole second half of the film goes and flows so fluidly that you kind of already figured it out. Nothing important is left out, nor is anything lost, but even just twenty more minutes would have given the film such a smoother pace and made the jumps less noticeable.
The Video
The film is shown in 1.85:1 Widescreen Format and looks fine. This is psychological thriller that is meant to have a dark feeling to its story, so in turn it was bound to be a dark movie. Well, the filmmakers were successful in doing just that for almost the entire film takes place at night or in dimly lit places.
The Audio
The film is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and really comes through excellent. One thing that made this an enjoyable viewing experience for me was the music. The film is very dark and the music makes it even more so. It continues to be a psychological thriller without any jump scares or cheap effects, yet the music is fantastic in producing anticipation.
Special Features
The Night Listener Revealed – This can be considered a “making of,” but it’s more so the story behind the film. The “true events” that the film refers to happened to the writers of the movie and they let it known here just how strange it is to see their actual life portrayed by other people and coming to life. Albeit short, it’s an interesting watch that might actually give you a bit of the chills.
Deleted Scene – Just one short scene with an introduction from the director about how he was very happy he left this one out of the final cut. Stettner even went as far as to consider the scene a mistake, but I felt differently and kind of like what it could have possibly delivered to the climax of the story.
Trailers – The Invisible, The Guardian, The Prestige, Renaissance, The Heart Of The Game, The Queen, and Roger Corman
The Inside Pulse
Even with the pacing problems and the short length of the film, The Night Listener still ended up being a very entertaining watch. Sometimes you are going to be right in the thick of things, and then the next you are going to be confused as all living hell, but it all pans out. The one deleted scene and one featurette were so good that I was actually begging for more, but alas there was nothing. Definitely worth a rent, but it wouldn’t kill you to pick it up some time down the line.
