The Night Listener - The night listener

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Movie
German title The Night Listener - The night listener
Original title The Night Listener
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2006
length 86 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Patrick Stettner
script Armistead Maupin ,
Terry Anderson ,
Patrick Stettner
production Jill Footlick ,
John N. Hart Jr. ,
Robert Kessel ,
Jeff Sharp
music Peter Nashel
camera Lisa Rinzler
cut Andy Keir
occupation

The Night Listener is an American psychological thriller from 2006 with Robin Williams and Toni Collette in the lead roles. Directed by Patrick Stettner . The film is based on the novel The Night Listener (German title: Der nächtliche Lauscher , 2002) published in 2000 by Armistead Maupin , who also worked on the script.

action

Gabriel Noone, who lives in New York City, has had success with his radio show "Noone at Night", in which he reads literary texts based on his own experiences. So he also prepared the relationship with the twenty years younger, HIV- positive Jess for his programs. When Jess moves out of Noone's apartment to escape his "grip", a world collapses for Noone. He is no longer able to work on his broadcast.

Noone's agent Ashe hands him 14-year-old Pete's pending manuscript. The boy has been sexually abused by both parents for years and sold to pedophiles . Pete suffers from AIDS with severe complications and, according to his foster mother Donna, with whom he has lived in a small town in Wisconsin for some time , only has to live for a short time. The two know Noone and his life from the radio broadcasts. Noone is shaken by Pete's fate. Weeks-long, intensive telephone contact is established. However, there is no face-to-face meeting. A planned visit to Noone for Christmas is canceled at short notice by Donna, as the boy, who has been in the hospital for some time, is not allowed to receive a visit.

When Jess overhears a phone call between Noone, Donna and Pete, he immediately notices that the voices of the woman and the boy are very similar. Jess assumes it's one and the same person. Noone initially refuses to admit this, but Ashe has never met the young author personally either. Due to the doubts that have arisen, the publisher cancels the publication of the book. When the telephone contact with Donna and Pete breaks off, Noone travels to Wisconsin and only finds Donna's PO box address there. However, he recognizes the city from the boy's stories. In a restaurant he sees a blind woman whom he follows and who identifies herself as Donna. She lives, allegedly with Pete, in a shabby house and in secrecy for fear of Pete's mother who is now free.

Donna, who has scarred cuts on her wrists, is jealous of Noone's interest in Pete. This is said to be in a hospital, but Noone's contact with him is forbidden by Donna. Noone searches the local hospitals but cannot find the boy. Noone is treated with hostility by residents of the city who believe in Pete's existence and fate without ever having seen the boy. He is eventually arrested by the police and mistreated as an alleged pedophile. After a final argument with Donna that nearly kills them, Noone travels back to New York, depressed. He is now convinced that he has fallen into a lie Donna, who apparently suffers from a " Munchausen proxy syndrome without a proxy". Noone believed in Pete's existence because Pete filled a void in his own life.

Noone processes the experiences in his radio show, which Donna overhears. She calls Noone to a motel room. When he gets there, he sees Donna leaving the motel, led by her guide dog. Noone finds a videotape in the room with footage of a smiling boy. The phone rings. Allegedly on the line is Pete, who is waiting for Donna at the airport. Noone knows that he is actually on the phone with Donna and asks about her fate in youth without receiving a clear answer.

In the end you see Donna, who is by no means blind, with a real estate agent in an empty house. Donna reportedly wants to live there with her disabled son, who had one leg amputated due to an infection.

Reviews

  • James Berardinelli gave three out of four stars and called The Night Listener a "creepy, occasionally disturbing" film from an era in which you could have intense relationships with people you never meet personally. Berardinelli recalled Robin Williams' earlier films, One Hour Photo and Insomnia . The actor seems to be in a stage of his career in which he has an "affinity for dark fabrics". Williams is not afraid of unpleasant roles and plays them well. Toni Collette also seems willing and able to play almost any part.
  • On Variety .com, however, David Rooney accused the "dawdling" film of flatly characterizing two main characters who would have had much more depth in the novel.

Awards

background

  • The film hit theaters shortly after the discovery of the fictional writer JT LeRoy , who allegedly published autobiographical books on childhood sexual abuse under his name.
  • The Night Listener had its US premiere on January 21, 2006 at the Sundance Film Festival and was released in US cinemas on August 4, 2006. In Germany, the film was released on October 26, 2007 as a DVD premiere.
  • When it was released in theaters, the film grossed around 10.5 million US dollars worldwide.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Reelviews: The Night Listener , accessed April 17, 2008
  2. ^ Variety.com: The Night Listener , accessed April 17, 2008
  3. ↑ Box office results for The Night Listener , accessed April 17, 2008