The Night Listener is a compelling mystery that really works because it puts more of an emphasis on character than on the actual mystery element of the plot. Taking a cue from the likes of Alfred Hitchcock and Stephen King's Misery, this clever flick had me second guessing on several occasions.

Robin Williams is celebrated writer and radio personality Gabriel. He's most known for the detailed stories he tells about his life on the air - some true and some embellished or fictional. After developing a long distance bond with a young listener (Rory Culkin), a strange revelation prompts Gabriel to leave the confines of his home, so that he might put together the pieces of a most fascinating mystery.

The Night Listener is a tough movie to discuss without giving away important plot details, It's rife with rich characterizations that I wish I could tell you more about, but I refuse to in this review. I will say that Gabriel is a lonely man struggling with an on again off again romance, and the friendship that he develops with this young man over the phone is genuinely sincere. There's nothing sinister about it. At least, not on Gabriel's part. As for the mystery portion of the film, that last little morsel is all you're going to get from me. Suffice it to say, The Night Listener is a film in which things aren't always as they seem.

Robin Williams is just great here as Gabriel. This is one of his more restrained works (think Awakenings, Dead Poet's Society, and Good Will Hunting), and while I like a manic Williams on occasion, I prefer this side of him. Sometimes audiences forget what a truly focused performer he is, and The Night Listener reminds us. In particular, I love his scenes toward the end of the picture in which we realize that much of the journey he's taken, has been one of self discovery. Toni Collette is wonderfully mysterious as the mother of the little boy Gabriel has bonded with. As was the case in The Sixth Sense, Collette has a vulnerability that breaks the heart, but in The Night Listener, there's a little more edge to her. Sandra Oh (Sideways) and Bobby Cannavale (The Station Agent) are wonderful in bit parts as individuals in Gabriel's life.

Director Patrick Stettner and his screenwriting team do a good job of building tension without ever losing sight of the characters in this piece. Again, The Night Listener is really a movie about people. The mystery element is just the icing on the cake. I do think the film makers go a little too far with the ending - one that reminds me a bit of the ending of an entertaining 80's thriller called The Stepfather. Although it has been reported that parts of the film have been tweaked a bit since I saw it. Having said that, I really enjoyed The Night Listener. Williams is terrific and he really sells the journey.