by kellie abrahamson kabrahamson1@aol.com
I really enjoy seeing an actor break the bonds of typecasting and Robin Williams has impressed me yet again in this respect with The Night Listener, one of his many 2006 releases. Here, Williams is able to strip off his funnyman persona and take on a serious role. The result is remarkable. The psychological drama is now available on DVD.
Popular radio storyteller Gabriel Noone (Robin Williams) becomes acquainted with a fourteen-year-old boy from Wisconsin named Pete Logand (Rory Culkin), who has written a book detailing long-time sexual abuse at the hands of his parents. Pete is dying of AIDS and this compels Gabriel to continue the friendship, in part because his increasingly distant partner, Jess (Bobby Cannavale), happens to be an HIV survivor. Gabriel also befriends Pete’s adoptive mother Donna (Toni Collette), who explains that the boy’s health is such that he can’t have visitors or take trips. This seems perfectly reasonable to Gabriel until Jess makes an odd observation: Donna and Pete have the same voice. Unable to accept that the relationship he has with this family is a lie, Gabriel decides to make his way to Wisconsin to visit them, despite Donna’s warning. Once there, he discovers nothing he knows about Pete or Donna is what he expected.
The Night Listener is one of those movies that is based on a book which was based on a true story. Armistead Maupin was contacted by a boy named Anthony Godby Johnson in 1993 after the young man had written a book called A Rock and a Hard Place: One Boy’s Triumphant Story, describing the horrible abuse he went through and how he overcame it. Maupin began a friendship with Anthony only to discover months later that the boy may not exist at all and could be the fabrication of the woman who claimed to be his guardian, Vicki Johnson. Maupin wrote a book about the bizarre experience which was published in 2000. The roman à clef novel was then adapted into a screenplay and here we are. The Night Listener had a quiet theatrical run and is now availible on DVD.
The DVD only has two of bonus features. First is a featurette called “The Night Listener Revealed” which includes interviews from the filmmakers and Williams himself. There is also a 3-minute deleted scene which director Patrick Stettner introduces as “our mistake”. The scene was certainly best left on the cutting room floor, but it is interesting to see and apply to the final cut of the film.
There is something quietly creepy about this movie. It’s not a boogeyman-under-the-bed creepiness; it’s far more subtle than that. It simply has this uncanny ability to stay with you and, when you think about it, that’s far more satisfying than what most horror/thrillers give you these days. The film is psychologically jarring, partly because of the ambiguity in the plot and partly because of the pacing which slowly builds and builds this tension that never truly finds an outlet. This could be an annoyance for some, but I found it a terrific way to end this particular tale.
The acting in The Night Listener is superb. Robin Williams impresses me less and less with his comedy and more and more with his dramatic skills. He shines in The Night Listener, turning in a stellar performance. Toni Collette also hits all the right notes here by thoroughly tapping into the psyche and personality of the character she portrays. It’s almost scary how great she is. I can’t say that the script was perfect; far from it. There are times when some of the character’s actions become cliché to the point of exasperation. The Gabriel Noone character, in particular, got the brunt of this sloppy writing. Without giving too much away, the writers managed to put him in these impossibly ridiculous situations that no rational human being would ever get themselves into. I found myself talking to the TV, telling Gabriel not to be such an idiot. He never took my advice.
The Night Listener is a fascinating film that is sure to impress those interested in the Anthony Godby Johnson case or in true-crime stories. While certain elements of the storyline are a bit over-the-top, the bones of the tale are good. The acting is where you really get your money’s worth on this one. Williams and Collette both do a fantastic job, and that alone is worth the cost of a rental.
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