Adapted from an Armistead Maupin novel – Maupin had a hand in the screenplay – The Night Listener is an oddly inert thriller, a movie of shocking revelations and sneaky twists that somehow still never jars you. Part of the problem is Robin Williams, who tends to become inert when giving one of his ‘serious’ performances. He plays Gabriel Noone, a radio storyteller who begins a phone relationship with one of his young listeners (Rory Culkin), only to slowly discover the boy may not be who he seems.
