  The Night ListenerMPAA Rating:
 for language and some disquieting sexual contentReviewed by: Pete Brown Very Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience:
Adults
Genre:
Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Adaptation of a novel
Length:
1 hr. 31 min.
Year of Release:
2006
USA Release:
August 4, 2006 (1400 theaters)
        Relevant Issues
What’s wrong with being gay? Answer What about gays needs to change? Answer Can a gay or lesbian person go to heaven? Answer What should be the attitude of the church toward homosexuals and homosexuality? Answer Read stories about those who have struggled with homosexuality
“Listen for the truth” Robin Williams stars as a radio host seeking the truth about the author of a mysterious manuscript in The Night Listener, based on Armistead Maupin’s novel. In an indirect way, The Night Listener attempts to explore the concepts of truth vs. belief. The movie has a timely theme, considering that we live in a day when fiction is presented as fact by journalists and many people believe anything, just because they read it or see it in the media. Unfortunately, the film is uninspired and falls short of it’s potential. Robin Williams, in an uncharacteristly melancholy performance, plays the depressed and conflicted “Gabriel” who is a radio program host whose homosexual lover has just moved out. Gabriel is in such a slump that he is unable to work. He reads a manuscript written by a mysterious author who describes being abused as a young boy, and something about it intrigues him. Gabriel talks to him on the phone, and a dependant relationship begins to develop (Gabriel’s dependency) with this young boy who is dying of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases which he was infected with as a result of being sexually abused by his parents and their friends. The Night Watcher depicts a few of the raw and lingering effects of brutally selfish sexuality on the body, mind, spirit and community of the willing or unwilling participants. Writer/director Patrick Stettner attempts to keep the audience engaged by peeling away layers of riddles which are too easily answered, and the mystery and suspenseful impact end up being minimal. Peter Nashel’s score helped move the film to a suspenseful and near psycho-thriller tone and pace, at one point. Unfortunately, it was overdone for the scenes and seemed contrived. Much of the film’s pace was painfully slow, and it continued to drag right up through the final scenes. There was one instance of nudity, several scenes of homosexual innuendo, and a scene with implied child porn along with dozens of instances of profanity. The film had a pro-homosexual view and yet ends with the ironic statement that “Real isn’t how you were made, but what happens to you.” Could this be a writer/director that does not believe people are born gay? Violence: Minor / Profanity: Heavy / Sex/Nudity: Moderate   Positive
Positive - I found this a worthwhile and engaging movie--at times chilling, at times off-putting, but strongly flavored and interesting. It’s painted in dark colors and has a serious tone. The theme, to me, actually is a Christian one. It’s about what relationship is going to be at the center of a person’s life and about how one connects with others. The movie covers these topics from a kind of this-is-how-not-to-do-it perspective. I wasn’t surprised by the homosexuality as some others were, because I had read a review that spoke about it. Gabriel (the Robin Williams character) has centered his life around his partner Jess, rather than on Jesus. (The similarity of names is not accidental.) Jess, who is much healthier, leaves the claustrophobic relationship. Gabriel is devastated, and he is launched on a search for a new love to be the center of his life. Positive - Having seen the trailer for this movie, I was looking forward to seeing a psychological drama. Upon reading the review on ChristianAnswers.net, I had my doubts. Upon reading all the Negative Viewer feedback, I really had my doubts about this movie. However, with the caliber of acting talents like Robin Williams, Sandra Oh and Toni Collette, and knowing that this movie was about the search for the truth behind a mystery, I decided to see it. I have the following points to make: Neutral
Neutral - The best thing about this movie is that it is based on fact. I had seen an interview with the person to whom this happened, played by Robin Williams. That the mental disorder which is addressed by the plot is a reality is really quite fascinating. It was also filmed not far from where I live, so I enjoyed seeing familiar scenery. But, of course, there are a lot of negative and offensive thematic material, such as the lead character's unhappy homosexual love life and actually, the perversity of most of the characters in the plot. I do not recommend this movie. It is really quite slow and tedious, but for those who like fact-based story lines, this is quite a story, hence my neutral rating. Negative
Negative - This film, in the first 7 minutes, shows parents sexually abusing their son with a whole bunch of other people doing the same thing and video taping him to sell it on the Internet. My husband and I walked, out as well as 7 other people.… Negative - What they don’t tell you about this film is that it’s riddled with homeosexuality, including Robin William’s character kissing his estranged boyfriend. We checked carefully and nowhere was this mentioned in the advertising. How disgusting to be subjected to this type of venue - esp when movies cost so much. I felt tricked and disgusted by the film makers. The devil is a liar! He’s trying to get into society’s mind that this is normal, and we should accept it. Beyond the homesexuality, there is a LOT of strong language. The characters not only use a lot of profanity, there is talk about pediophiles, child molestation, scenes of group sex and the Lord’s name is taken in vane several times. Lastly, they do a disservice to AIDS crisis. They project it as a homesexual problem, when really it’s a crisis that belongs to all society and seeps into every lifestyle, culture and gender. I’m embarrased to tell others that I’ve seen this film, yet at the same time I know if I don’t - others will be tricked into seeing it also. Negative - There were way too many swear words. The F word was spoken in this movie more times than I can count on both hands, and there was a specific name that was spoken, by the child of the movie, at least 2 times that was a derogatory reference to a male body part. I did not enjoy the homosexual sub-plot. There was one scene of the main character kissing his former boyfriend, but it was obscured by the camera angle. The movie did have bizarre twists and turns in it, but it was a movie that I was ashamed to be seeing. They are comparing this movie to a Hitchcock-type movie. Hitchcock never had the type of language in his movies as this movie had. I wish I would have not wasted the price of the movie ticket. Negative - My daughter asked me to go and see this movie with her, and I made the mistake of not checking with this Web site to get a rating on it. I was very offended with the homosexual theme and the pornography that was in the first 20 minutes. I chose to walk out and not subject myself to any more of it. How awesome it is that we have the power of choice! Negative - I didn’t really know what the movie was about going in, and felt that some of the scenes were unnecessarily explicit. The 'f' word was used far too many times. And in addition, I found the story line very boring. I believe the story could have been told in a way that would not have been so explicit or boring and yet maintain the integrity of the story. This was based on a true story and it’s sad that these events occur in our society, and we should be aware of them, but I would not recommend this movie. Negative - My husband and I walked out of the theater after 10 minutes. We requested and received our money back. We usually like Robin Williams, but we had no idea from the movie trailers that homosexuality and and child abuse was the main focus of the film. Comments from young people
Negative - I had high hopes for this movie. The reason for this hope was that my dad recently read an article on the story behind The Night Listener. It sounded very interesting. The hope was fueled further by the previews we saw, which made the movie out to be a thriller. I had looked forward to seeing this movie for weeks. Unfortunately, all my hopes were dashed to the ground when I saw this movie. It wasn’t a thriller, it wasn’t interesting, and it severely disappointed me and my family. Negative - Rating this movie on how offensive it was would make it very low on my scale. Crude language is continually used, there are several comments and scenarios where you can tell that the radio host, Gabriel is gay, the movie is generally about a pathological liar, and the “background story” of Pete is that he was sexually abused and films were made of him to be sold. |
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