The Night Listener
Metascore
51 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 31 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 31
  3. Negative: 2 out of 31
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  1. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    88
    This unconventional psychological drama weaves a fascinating tale, and Collette and Williams give two of the summer's best performances.
  2. Empire
    Reviewed by: David Hughes
    80
    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.
  3. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Phillips
    75
    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.
  4. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    75
    The Night Listener is by no means an example of perfect filmmaking, but it is the kind of movie that stays with you.
  5. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: M. E. Russell
    75
    A movie adapted from a novel inspired by a person who probably never existed.
  6. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Keith Phipps
    75
    Williams delivers a solid, twinkle-free (though closed-off) performance, but the film as a whole can't decide what it wants to be.
  7. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    70
    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.
  8. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Jim Ridley
    70
    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.
  9. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marc Savlov
    67
    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.
  10. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    63
    The film is not so much suspenseful as intriguing.
  11. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    63
    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?
  12. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    63
    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.
  13. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: William Arnold
    58
    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.
  14. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Chris Kaltenbach
    58
    As a narrative, it has serious problems -- holes so gaping that they're all but unavoidable.
  15. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    50
    Casting Williams in this thriller, adapted from Armistead Maupin's novel, was a bigger mistake than the actor's performance.
  16. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    50
    A movie with lots of heart but no heartbeat.
  17. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    50
    What makes the film such a guilty pleasure is how Williams's righteous self-pity is perfectly matched to Collette's nuttiness and despair.
  18. Premiere
    Reviewed by: Ethan Alter
    50
    Somehow the movie ends up feeling like a museum piece or, worse still, a work of fiction.
  19. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Stephen Cole
    50
    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.
  20. Charlotte Observer
    Reviewed by: Lawrence Toppman
    50
    On their accounts (Williams/Collette), The Night Listener is compelling viewing-but on their accounts only.
  21. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Gregory Kirschling
    50
    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.
  22. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Stephanie Zacharek
    50
    The experience of watching The Night Listener didn't make me feel "real" at all, only stuffed.
  23. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    50
    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.
  24. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    50
    The film has its creepy, suspenseful moments -- but it shrinks a rich, strange story to the dimensions of an anecdote.
  25. Variety
    Reviewed by: David Rooney
    50
    Aiming for unsettling atmosphere over character definition, the dawdling mystery thriller manages to flatten two protagonists that had far more depth in the novel.
  26. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    50
    The movie's suggestiveness gives way to a certain thinness and lassitude.
  27. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    42
    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.
  28. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Don R. Lewis
    40
    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.
  29. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    40
    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.
  30. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    38
    This Sundance dud is a turgid gay soap opera with a limp twist, showcasing Robin Williams at his maudlin worst.
  31. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    30
    Depressed and depressing drama.
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User Reviews

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User Score
4.8 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 24 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 13
  3. Negative: 3 out of 13
  1. BlakeJ.
    6
    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.… Full Review »
  2. JenK.
    4
    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.
  3. Cables
    6
    Not a bad movie. Very well acted. Unfortunately, it ends without any satisfaction. It's too short and not developed well enough.
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