As far as psychological thrillers go, The Night Listener is unsettling, understated and, in the final analysis, underdone.

But, hey, two out of three isn't so bad.

Based on a 2000 novel by Armistead Maupin, The Night Listener stars Robin Williams as Gabriel Noone, who hosts a nationally syndicated late-night radio show. He is a man teetering on depression, having just been dumped by his longtime live-in lover, Jess (Bobby Cannavale). Eager for a distraction from his heartbreak, Gabriel agrees to read a manuscript from a publisher friend (Joe Morton) -- and is knocked out by it. The author is Peter Logand (Rory Culkin), a 14-year-old boy in Wisconsin. Peter, who is afflicted with HIV, has penned a harrowing memoir about having suffered barbaric abuse at the hands of his pedophile parents.

Peter phones Gabriel. The boy, it turns out, is a big fan of the man's radio show, and a long-distance friendship soon develops between the two. Gabriel, still wrestling with the heartache of Jess' departure, becomes especially dependent on the boy's phone calls; and he grows concerned when Peter's curtly protective stepmother, Donna (Toni Collette), reports that Peter's health is in rapid decline.

But something doesn't seem quite right. Peter and Donna have remarkably similar voices, and Gabriel becomes suspicions when it is suggested to him that Peter might not even be real. In the wake of Gabriel's questions, Peter's would-be publisher gets cold feet and backs out of the book deal. Peter and Donna are crushed. Gabriel is subsequently racked with guilt, but he remains frustratingly unable to verify Peter's existence. And so he flies to small-town Wisconsin to investigate the matter for himself.

Director Patrick Stettner captures the stark and brooding tones of winter, meticulously creating a mood that helps inch along the creepiness factor even when the story begins to idle. The Night Listener is bolstered by other aspects of production, too, particularly Lisa Rinzler's muted cinematography and a haunting music score from Peter Nashel.

The acting is similarly top-notch. Williams is thankfully in his low-key mode (this is one comic actor who is at his best when not in comic roles), projecting the gentle melancholy of a soul desperate to make a difference in the life of someone, anyone. As Donna, Collette again proves to be one of the most versatile and criminally underrated actresses working today.

Nevertheless, the right mood and tone can heighten drama -- not replace it. And it is here that The Night Listener fails to deliver on its promise. Clocking in at a lean 82 minutes, the movie certainly can't be accused of wearing out its welcome, but viewers are likely to wish there was a bit more meat on its bones. The picture flits through the all-pivotal relationship between Gabriel and Peter, offering only a cursory depiction of the ostensible bond they share. Intriguing ideas rattle around in the margins, but The Night Listener pays only lip service to the potentially gripping question of why people are so eager to believe the most nightmarish of stories.

The Night Listener, which is shown in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, boasts a solid, if unexceptional, picture quality. Slight grain in visible in a few night scenes, and the image appears soft in spots.

The Dolby Digital 5.1 gets the job done and makes intermittent use of the back speakers. Decent, but hardly as inventive as it could be. Subtitles are available in English, Spanish and French.

Slim pickings. The Night Listener Revealed, which runs just under 12 minutes, is a standard-issue -- but watchable -- featurette that boasts interviews with Maupin, co-screenwriter Terry Anderson, Williams and various producers.

In addition, there is a deleted scene (3:10) with opening commentary by Stettner. He concedes that he omitted the scene because it took the drama into the realm of high melodrama – and he's right.

Finally, the DVD includes sneak peeks for The Heart of the Game, The Queen, The Invincible, The Guardian, The Prestige, Renaissance, various Roger Corman movies and Coming to Blu-ray.

"This is not some sort of parlor game," Gabriel tells a friend when detailing his doubts about Peter and Donna. Maybe. The Night Listener, despite having some strong things in its favor, is too barebones to be anything but a parlor game.