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Night Listener. The
Miramax Films


4.4

based on 31 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 20 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

The Business of Strangers

MPAA RATING: R for language and some disquieting sexual content

Starring Robin Williams, Toni Collette, Sandra Oh, Rory Culkin, John Cullum, Joe Morton, and Bobby Cannavale

This "thriller of the heart" is largely inspired by an extraordinary, unsettling true-life chain of events. (Miramax)

GENRE(S):	Drama \| Mystery \| Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Armistead Maupin (also novel) Terry Anderson Patrick Stettner
DIRECTED BY:	Patrick Stettner
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: January 9, 2007 Theatrical: August 4, 2006
RUNNING TIME:	91 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

USA Today Claudia Puig

This unconventional psychological drama weaves a fascinating tale, and Collette and Williams give two of the summer's best performances.

Empire David Hughes

A topical study of writers' deceptions, which also explores issues of identity and the blurred lines between fantasy and reality, The Night Listener is intriguing, thought-provoking and harrowing by turns, with fine central and supporting performances and a richly satisfying feel.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

A movie adapted from a novel inspired by a person who probably never existed.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

The Night Listener is by no means an example of perfect filmmaking, but it is the kind of movie that stays with you.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

The pacing and staging of the later scenes could use a little more electricity and momentum, and a little less restraint. Yet The Night Listener keeps you watching. And listening.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Williams delivers a solid, twinkle-free (though closed-off) performance, but the film as a whole can't decide what it wants to be.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

Plays like an Alfred Hitchcock thriller but is nevertheless a movie of ideas. It bristles with intriguing thoughts about the realm of fiction, how one loves, issues of identity and questions concerning how one transfers a real-life incident into big-screen fiction. This is a film that can crawl inside your skin.

Village Voice Jim Ridley

Even when the script overstates the obvious, Stettner mines every nuance of unease from the head games between Williams and the unnerving Collette, who embodies the moment passive aggression stops being passive.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

It's unlike anything else out now, and Williams, to his credit and our immense relief, has for the moment foresworn his usual giddiness in favor of a muted, hunched acting style that befits both the character of Noone and the overall tone of the film.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

The film is not so much suspenseful as intriguing.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

The fundamental problem with The Night Listener is the manner in which the boy, Pete, is depicted. Rory Culkin gets the tricky job of bringing the role to life, and he does it well, but it's still a trick. Or is it?

TV Guide Ken Fox

Where the hero of Maupin's novel learns some valuable lessons about love and faith, the film strikes a darker, even angry tone that's far more understandable and, in the end, far more convincing.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

As a narrative, it has serious problems -- holes so gaping that they're all but unavoidable.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

There's also a terrific performance from Collette, who, in only a handful of scenes, wonderfully communicates the unusual resourcefulness of a demented woman who has spent her life assuming a succession of physical handicaps as a survival technique.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

The experience of watching The Night Listener didn't make me feel "real" at all, only stuffed.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

The movie's suggestiveness gives way to a certain thinness and lassitude.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

The film has its creepy, suspenseful moments -- but it shrinks a rich, strange story to the dimensions of an anecdote.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Casting Williams in this thriller, adapted from Armistead Maupin's novel, was a bigger mistake than the actor's performance.

Entertainment Weekly Gregory Kirschling

Is The Night Listener a wintry drama with a few schlocky jolts, or an underdone psychological thriller straining for some dramatic heft on the side? Hard to tell, but either way, the movie doesn't cohere.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

As a performer, Robin Williams has a wonderfully volatile range; as an actor, he commutes uneasily between over-sincere and over-sinister. Both modes are on full monochromatic display in this stolid noir thriller.

Variety David Rooney

Aiming for unsettling atmosphere over character definition, the dawdling mystery thriller manages to flatten two protagonists that had far more depth in the novel.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

What makes the film such a guilty pleasure is how Williams's righteous self-pity is perfectly matched to Collette's nuttiness and despair.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

On their accounts (Williams/Collette), The Night Listener is compelling viewing-but on their accounts only.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

A movie with lots of heart but no heartbeat.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Stephen Cole

It should be a better, more authentic movie, considering that screenwriters Maupin and his ex-partner, Terry Anderson, are retelling parts of their own story here.

Premiere Ethan Alter

Somehow the movie ends up feeling like a museum piece or, worse still, a work of fiction.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

Something happens to Robin Williams in serious roles. He becomes so drab that it's almost as if he's trying to efface himself from the screen.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Aiming to blur the distinctions between truth and illusion, it simply blurs its own effectiveness by relying on predictable and not particularly convincing mystery-thriller formula.

Film Threat Don R. Lewis

By the time the credits rolled I was bored rather than stunned by the revelations within the movie and I just want these type of reversal/twist movies to get better, or go away.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

This Sundance dud is a turgid gay soap opera with a limp twist, showcasing Robin Williams at his maudlin worst.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Depressed and depressing drama.

The average user rating for this movie is 4.4 (out of 10) based on 20 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Blake J. gave it a6:
Short enough to swallow. Toni Collette proves that she can act, and she does a fine job. Notice how I didn't say anything about any of the other actors, thats because there is nothing to say.

Jen K. gave it a4:
This was ok, but was very mundane and boring. I'm glad I got it at a redbox...1.08 is about all it's worth.

Cables gave it a6:
Not a bad movie. Very well acted. Unfortunately, it ends without any satisfaction. It's too short and not developed well enough.

Cary M. gave it a0:
This is one of the worst movies Robin Williams ever played in not only does this movie indulge in the gay lifes of two males. But there was no plot to this movie.

Kristian M. gave it a7:
I quite enjoyed this film because it is possibly something that could happen in the future. It doesn't rely on crappy computer effects or loud explosions and action scenes with a mega budget to tell it's story. No it is not a groundbreaking film you will watching in years ahead but enjoyable to watch anyway.

Vicki W. gave it a3:
I love Robin Williams' films, but this was extrememly dissappointed. I was expecting to enjoy the power of the old Hitchcock movies, but no way! It was over almost before it started! The ending was sorry and left me thinking, is that all there is? Take my advice, don't bother!

Dave D. gave it a5:
nothing more than average and not so impressive.

Night Listener. The Miramax Films

Night Listener. The
Miramax Films