Stop, Look: Listener

This afternoon, I went to see the new movie The Night Listener. It's a small picture starring Robin Williams and Toni Collette. For the last while, Robin Williams has been far better in his serious movies (One Hour Photo, Insomnia) than his comedies (RV). Add to this an interesting premise (a man develops a telephone friendship with a young writer who may in fact be a fabrication -- oooo, Oprah would be pissed!), and I was curious enough to check it out.

There's not much to be said without giving anything away. It's a short, taut little tale, not even 90 minutes long. It is pretty engaging along the way, with a few moments of surprising tension, given that it's not really meant to be a "thriller" so much as a psychological mystery at best. But at the same time, it's not particularly amazing. As the end credits rolled, I found myself feeling more or less satisfied, but not from having been on any emotional journey, or having been exposed to any great revelation; I was sort of just nodding with a detached, intellectual feeling of "well, that was interesting."

The movie is based on a novel, and I found myself wondering if the story wouldn't have played a little better in that medium rather than on film. Without the need to put a picture on a screen, I think there would be more question as to what was real and what was not, and a more forced, subjective view on events from within the main character's head.

Still, I can't really point to anything I felt was flawed about the movie. Ultimately, if you like the "serious Robin Williams," you'll probably want to check this out... though it might be a Netflix-er, once it's out on DVD. I give it a B-.