Fridae

Robin Williams has had a really interesting career trajectory, and in recent years he has started to tone down the comedy and taking more 'serious' roles. A good example would be his creepy turn in One Hour Photo, which deservedly earned Williams accolades. In The Night Listener, the creepy role is given instead to Toni Collette, whilst Williams plays a man who becomes obsessed with uncovering the truth behind a telephone friendship with a evasive teenage boy.

Robin Williams is Gabriel Noone, the DJ of a New York late-night radio talk show, Noone at Night. After being passed an unpublished manuscript written by 14 year-old Peter Logand (Rory Culkin), Gabriel begins a telephone friendship with the young writer. Peter has had a sad past � as a child, he was sexually abused by his parents and prostituted to paedophiles. He had contracted both syphilis and AIDS, and is dying. His foster mother Donna (Toni Collette), cares for him by herself, and has moved to Wisconsin in order to avoid being found by Peter's biological mother, who is on the run from the authorities.

Gabriel tries to provide emotional support for the young boy, but is going through a tough period himself � his partner of eight years, Jess (Bobby Cannavale), had just moved out, and Gabriel feels lonely and depressed. However, he still remains in close contact with Jess, who is the first person to raise suspicions about Donna and Peter. The seed of doubt grows in Gabriel's mind, and he decides to travel to Wisconsin to seek out the truth.

Originally a novel written by Armistead Maupin, which was inspired by true events that Maupin himself had experienced, The Night Listener is a dark and moody film, and not the thriller it is marketed as. Observe the usually manic Robin Williams tone it way down, in an understated performance that is highly believable. It is not difficult to empathize with Gabriel, and his pain in losing his partner is particularly palpable, especially to the LGBT community.

Toni Collette stands out as the extremely creepy Donna, but it is nothing we have not come to expect from the talented actress, who seems to be able to disappear into every role she takes on. Unfortunately, the denouement of the film is a bit of a letdown, as it both reveals too much and still leaves too many plotlines dangling at the same time. But just like real life, it is not always that easy to obtain answers or a conclusive ending.