14 January 2019
The Night Listener 2006
- Director: Patrick Stettner
- Based on the novel: no
- Cast: Robin Williams, Toni Collette, Joe Morton, Bobby Cannavale, Rory Culkin, Sandra Oh
- Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
- Robin Williams – The Butler, Insomnia, Good Will Hunting, Hamlet, Homicide Life on the Street, Hook, Fisher King, Dead Again, Awakenings, Dead Poets Society, Good Morning Vietnam, The World According to Garp
- Toni Collette – Hereditary, Imperium, A Long Way Down, Mental, Fright Night, The Dead Girl, Little Miss Sunshine, In Her Shoes, The Hours, About a Boy, Changing Lanes, Hotel Splendide, Velvet Goldmine, Muriel’s Wedding
- Joe Morton – X Files, Homicide Life on the Streets, Speed, Terminator 2, Crossroads
- Bobby Cannavale – Romance & Cigarettes, The Exonerated, Six Feet Under, The Station Agent, The Guru
- Rory Culkin – Igby Goes Down
- Sandra Oh – Rabbit Hole, Sideways, Under the Tuscan Sun, Six Feet Under, If Not for You
- Why? Toni Collette
- Seen: 11 January 2019
Gabriel (Williams) has a radio program at night but is near collapse after his boyfriend Jess (Cannavale) breaks up with him. His boss (Morton) gives him a book by a boy Pete (Culkin) who was horribly abused by his parents as a child. His adoptive mother Donna (Collette) tells Gabriel that Pete is dying of AIDS and that they are hiding out in the woods of Wisconsin because the boy’s mother has escaped from prison.
Gabriel and Pete become good friends over the phone. Jess claims that Pete is fictional and that Donna has invented a big lie just to get her book published.
So does Pete exist or not? Gabriel goes to Wisconsin to find out.
Part relationship drama, part thriller, it’s riveting at moments as well as scary. Collette is creepy as only Collette can be, and Williams is strong in the role. But in the end, the story feels unfinished. I’m left with a feeling of frustration. Ultimately it’s unsatisfying but Collette and Williams lift it to
2 ½ * of 5
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