MovieChat Forums > The Night Listener (2006) Discussion > The phone calls (specifically final one)...

The phone calls (specifically final one) SPOILERS


So, just saw this flick for the first time yesterday. Maybe it was the frame of mind I was already in when I watched it, but, while I wasn't blown away by it, I didn't feel the hatred for it that seemingly so many of you do.

Anyway, obviously the phone conversions were a large part of what the escalating plot was built on, and a catalyst for the mystery. It hadn't really occurred to me when Jess remarked after being put on speakerphone with Gabriel that Donna's and Pete's voices sounded very similar, but then when I thought about it, I felt he had a legit point. Now, in terms of the actual practical production of the film, clearly some of the times it was without a doubt Toni Collette talking on the phone, some of times it was without a doubt Kieran Culkin talking on the phone. Obviously though, especially as it gets later on in the film, you as the viewer are supposed to wonder if it really is just one single person the entire time.

I wonder though if anyone else agrees, that the VERY LAST phone call that Gabriel gets, when he's gone into the motel room that was vacated by Donna where she's left the video tape, it's "supposed to" be Pete calling Gabe, at any rate the person's claiming he's Pete, but on that call more than any other, it was 100% crystal clear to me that it was Donna (actress Toni Collette doing the voice), from the first words spoken I had no doubt. And I think this was a very deliberate move from the director, to sort of drive the point home for the audience, I think he specifically made it obvious that it was her, simply pretending to be him, whereas previous conversations in the movie tone and pitch were made to be in such a way that it left you wondering.

I'm sure PLENTY of others picked up on this, right? That it was OBVIOUSLY Donna pretending to be Pete on that last call?

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Yeah, I thought that was pretty clearly intentional, and that Gabriel was just calling her 'Pete' to humour her and asked her about her childhood through 'Pete'.
btw i didn't know the name of the kid, but i thought it was a Culkin! yay.

I thought this was a GREAT movie, though disturbing, and I love Robin Williams.

-Beth
I <3 JERSEY BOYS!

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It was Rory Culkin.

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I saw this film with my mom, and we both knew it was Toni Collette the entire time. We picked up on the voice thing before the Jess character did.



All the girls swoon for Jay Sebring

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Oh blimey that's right, sorry. Kieran was the one in "IGBY GOES DOWN". And I don't think that's the first time I got their two names switched around :-/

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when i was watching this movie, i had the captions on and for the last phone conversation that took place in the motel, when gabriel was talking the caption said Donna/Pete whenever "pete" would speak. That was definitely the director saying that Donna and Pete are the same person.

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Rory Culkin is in this flim

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For those who have NOT seen the movie, but read the book only, you're left with the assumption that it was Donna, but in the movie, it seems more "confirmed" that it was her. The book never confirms Donna's hoax like in the movie. At the end of the movie, you see Donna is moving into a new home with a new lie about how her son lost his leg, AND, we discover she's not blind. Once again, the "son" is in the hospital, never to be seen by anyone.

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