Armistead Maupin wrote the book and then the screenplay for The Night Listener (1996) about a real event in his and his partner’s life. Maupin is, of course, famous for his wonderful Tales of the City (1993) miniseries which I highly recommend if you aren’t San-Francisco-phobic (and maybe even if you are).
Robin Williams plays a late night radio host Gabriel Noone (Noone at Night. Is this a play on “no one”: is Gabriel no one without his radio show disclosing personal details about others?) and does a terrific job at this serious role. There are a lot of twists in the plot that make this thriller if not quite Hitchcock-like, at least something close to it. This isn’t quite the tour-de-force that the 3 Tales of the City sets of shows are but it is still very interesting and certainly worth borrowing from the library or video purveyor.
An enjoyable flick for adults but the language and subject-matter make it unsuitable for kids.
