The Night Listener
Miramax Films | Release Date: August 4, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
51
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
17
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
USA TodayClaudia Puig
This unconventional psychological drama weaves a fascinating tale, and Collette and Williams give two of the summer's best performances. Read full review
80
EmpireDavid 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. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubKeith 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. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael 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. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
A movie adapted from a novel inspired by a person who probably never existed. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The Night Listener is by no means an example of perfect filmmaking, but it is the kind of movie that stays with you. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterKirk 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. Read full review
70
Village VoiceJim 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. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc 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. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineKen 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. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
The film is not so much suspenseful as intriguing. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven 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? Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam 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. Read full review
58
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
As a narrative, it has serious problems -- holes so gaping that they're all but unavoidable. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyGregory 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. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyElla 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. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Casting Williams in this thriller, adapted from Armistead Maupin's novel, was a bigger mistake than the actor's performance. Read full review
50
SalonStephanie Zacharek
The experience of watching The Night Listener didn't make me feel "real" at all, only stuffed. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
The movie's suggestiveness gives way to a certain thinness and lassitude. Read full review
50
The New York TimesDana Stevens
The film has its creepy, suspenseful moments -- but it shrinks a rich, strange story to the dimensions of an anecdote. Read full review
50
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
On their accounts (Williams/Collette), The Night Listener is compelling viewing-but on their accounts only. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
A movie with lots of heart but no heartbeat. Read full review
50
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. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley 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. Read full review
50
PremiereEthan Alter
Somehow the movie ends up feeling like a museum piece or, worse still, a work of fiction. Read full review
50
VarietyDavid 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. Read full review
42
Christian Science MonitorPeter 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. Read full review
40
Washington PostDesson 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. Read full review
40
Film ThreatDon 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. Read full review
38
New York PostLou Lumenick
This Sundance dud is a turgid gay soap opera with a limp twist, showcasing Robin Williams at his maudlin worst. Read full review
30
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Depressed and depressing drama.
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