Leading Ladies: August 2006

The Night Listener

Stars: Robin Williams, Toni Collette, Sandra Oh, Rory Culkin, Joe Morton
Director: Patrick Stettner
Rating: R

The thriller, about a radio talk show host (Williams) whose life spins out of control when he becomes involved in a mystery with a young fan who's dying of AIDS, is based on an Armistead Maupin story that was based on a real-life event, but the result is, say the Leading Ladies, really disappointing.

USA Today's Claudia Puig says, "This unconventional psychological drama weaves a fascinating tale, and Collette and Williams give two of the summer's best performances." But the South Florida Sun-Sentinel 's Phoebe Flowers says, "As gripping as The Night Listener wants to be, it's also nearly devoid of suspense because you know it's supposed to be suspenseful."

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Eleanor Ringel Gillespie writes, "The film veers off-course into pure melodrama and a trickled-out ending that apparently was also a problem in Maupin's book," while the Associated Press's Christy Lemire claims, "Culkin offers a performance that's both spirited and heartfelt, while Collette is completely disarming as the woman who protectively cares for him. And yet there are other parts of [the movie] that you wish were more fully developed."

And Salon's Stephanie Zacharek says, "The experience of watching The Night Listener didn't make me feel 'real' at all, only stuffed."

Female consensus: Nice try, but no one's listening

next : In limited release