To See Or Not To See: The Night Listener

Hailed as Hitchcock-ian Thriller
by Jan Stetter
QCFMag.com

The Night Listener is being billed a psychological thriller. However, gauging the test audience response, it seemed more like a somnolent sleeper.

The Night Listener is a movie starring Robin Williams. He plays a New York radio personality, Gabe Noone, who trustingly begins a long distance telephone relationship with a fourteen year old fan and his caregiver.

All the right elements are set for an eerie tale to unfold; Noone’s radio show airs at midnight. The studio is dark, matching the emotions of the radio host. Gabe lives alone. He is ripe for distrust, confusion and mystery to consume his life. Williams is exceptional in expressing the despair he feels by the breakup of his character’s relationship with Jess, played handsomely by Bobby Cannavale.

That mystery appears in the form of a budding author played by Rory Culkin. His haunting, raw manuscript is given to Gabe to read and review. Who better to review a story than one of the best storytellers on radio? Thus begins a series of events meant to unnerve and keep the audience at the edge of their seats. Instead a slow mundane series of revelations concerning the identity or even the existence of “Pete” ensues.

Enter Donna played by Toni Colette. Collette plays a social worker who has adopted the boy Pete and together they are living in hiding to avoid contact with the perverted people of Pete’s childhood. Toni Collette as the unstable guardian gives this movie the creepiness it begs for. Unfortunately her performance is not enough to sustain a sense of fright or suspense.

The Night Listener fails to come close to the grandeur of a Hitchcock movie. It fails to even keep the audience interested.

Having trouble making decisions about whether a movie is worth it? "To See or Not To See" reviews movies each week on Monday. Contact jans@queencityforum.com