A Very Serious Robin Williams

In THE NIGHT LISTENER, scheduled for DVD release on January 9, an extremely serious Robin Williams plays Gabriel Noone, a late night radio personality involved with an HIV-infected, sexually abused young boy and his adoptive mother who carry on a relationship with him by phone. Their calls started as the result of a remarkable book the boy has written about his tragic life.

One day, a close friend tells Gabriel that the woman and the boy sound quite a bit alike. Could it be possible they are the same person, and that the story is made up, not factual? Gabriel decides to track the mother and son down to find out the truth. His journey takes him to a small town in Wisconsin during the Christmas holidays. While there, he faces a number of surprises and disappointments. And yet, he still wants to believe.

THE NIGHT LISTENER is one of the most ambiguous mystery movies ever filmed. In fact, I am still confused about what happened. Although the lack of closure here disturbed me, Robin Williams tugged at my heart with his portrayal of a sad, lonely man searching for a son he never had -- and Toni Collette (the mother in THE SIXTH SENSE) is outstanding as a woman hiding more than one secret.