The Night Listener (English, 2006)

Robin Williams has a knack of being in movies which explore human thoughts at levels you did not know existed. Whether it is exploring the mind of a pedophile in Insomnia or depicting what does obsession mean in One Hour Photo, Robin Williams always comes up with performances which leave us dazed with their sheer intensity and real-ness. There's hardly ever that you feel the guy is "acting".

The Night Listener is another great psychological thriller with Robin Williams in the lead. What it explores is something very distressing - the need of human beings to lie to themselves and to others, the action of human mind of distorting reality to make the world seem a better place than it is. All of us do this to some extent, at the other extreme is delusion. Its the area in between the so-called sane perception of reality and delusion that movie investigates.

Gabriel Noone (Robin Williams) is a celebrated late-night radio show host. He develops an intense relationship with a young listener Pete and her adopted mother, Donna (Toni Collette) and because of his own domestic problems, becomes mentally dependent on this relationship. However, questions soon arise whether Pete exists at all or not. In a bid to resolve this, Gabriel goes to meet Pete but is met by Donna and is told Pete is in hospital and cannot be visited. The film's plot is all around the psychological interplay between Donna and Gabriel regarding Pete's existence.

Marked by brilliant performances, the film leaves you thoroughly impressed. Don't be surprised to realize that there's Robin Williams in the film and you end up appreciating someone else's acting more. And that someone is Toni Collette. Her depth of portrayal of a role where here emotions can either turn out to be mother's grief or a delusional person's rambling is absolutely great.

The movie is nothing about a plot or any happenings or any great chases or cinematography. Its sheer acting of these two lead characters that carries the movie through.

Recommendation - Watch it if you appreciate psychological thrillers and/or individual acting brilliance.
Rating - ✔✔✔